Endocrinology and Metabolic Care

Hormones are chemicals that tell your body what to do and when to do it. They affect your metabolism, growth and development, emotions, fertility, blood pressure, and more.

Our endocrinologists diagnose and treat a wide range of endocrine and metabolic conditions, providing personal, compassionate care to help improve your quality of life.

Our Approach to Endocrinology Care

Dealing with an endocrine or metabolic condition can be stressful. A visit with one of our endocrinologists won’t be. We’re here to listen and come up with a personalized set of options to manage your health, relieve your symptoms, and get you feeling like yourself again.

Your first visit with a member of our team will be a lot like meeting with your primary care provider. We’ll do a physical exam, review your medical history and any medications you may be taking, and prescribe any lab or imaging tests you may need.

Once we confirm your diagnosis, you and your endocrinologist will come up with a treatment plan that’s most effective for you. This may include medication and diet and lifestyle changes. Partnering with your primary care provider, we may also refer you to other specialists in nephrology (kidney health), urology, cardiology, neurology, or surgery. 

Endocrinology Tests and Treatments

Symptoms of thyroid disorders can be divided into two groups, those related to an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) and those related to an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism).

Symptoms of an overactive thyroid include:

• Anxiety or irritability
• Trouble sleeping
• Unexplained weight loss
• Having an enlarged thyroid, or a goiter
• Muscle weakness
• Irregular menstrual periods
• Sensitivity to heat
• Vision problems

Symptoms of an underactive thyroid include:

• Fatigue
• Unexplained weight gain
• Forgetfulness
• Frequent and heavy menstrual periods
• Dry or coarse hair
• Hoarse voice
• Sensitivity to cold temperatures

Because symptoms of thyroid disease and other hormone issues can look like other common conditions, you will need to undergo a series of tests to determine a diagnosis.

Blood tests include:

• Blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin (A1c) for diabetes and prediabetes
• Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) to check your thyroid function
• Parathyroid hormone (PTH) to check your parathyroid function
• Luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone for female hormonal issues and total testosterone for male hormone issues
• Cortisol, aldosterone, vitamin D, prolactin, and estrogen, which affect different systems

Imaging tests include:

• Thyroid ultrasound to look at your thyroid’s structure
• Fine-needle aspiration to look for cancer in a thyroid nodule
• Radioactive iodine to measure thyroid function
• Bone density test to determine your risk for osteoporosis
• MRI of the pituitary and adrenal glands to look at their structure

Endocrinology Treatments

Depending on your diagnosis, your doctor may recommend:

• Hormone replacement therapy
• Medication is slow down an overactive gland
• Medication or insulin to treat diabetes
• Lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise
• Surgery or another procedure to remove a growth on a gland