Elderly Care: Helping You Deal With the Dying Process
Endocrinology: What Is It?
Julio Carr
Endocrinology is a medical practice that is often misunderstood. An endocrinologist is a subspecialist of internal medicine. This means that a doctor went to four years of college for a bachelor's degree, four years of medical school, three years of an internal medicine residency program, and two to three years of a fellowship training in endocrinology. Endocrinologists are usually highly trained individuals who can help to diagnose and treat any hormonal issues that one may be facing.
Endocrinology is the study of hormones the glands that produce them. It is truly incredible how much of a man or woman is affected by the hormones that pulse through their body. This includes their height, their weight, their secondary sex characteristics, their fertility, their digestion, and so much more.
You may be looking for an endocrinologist if you are suffering from any of the following diseases or disorders.
Diabetes. Diabetes is when the body has a difficult time monitoring it's sugar levels. This is because the pancreas (a small organ and large gland behind the stomach) either produces too much or too little insulin. Insulin is what our bodies use to either raise or lower our blood sugar. If you we digest a lot of sugar our body produces insulin to lower its levels. If we have too little sugar, the body produces less insulin to let our sugar levels rise. If one's sugar levels become too high or too low they could begin to have serious consequences. An endocrinologist works with individuals to help them learn to manage their diabetes so that they can lead a normal life.
Infertility. Both men and women can suffer from infertility. This may be due to a lack of testosterone in a man, or low levels of estrogen or progesterone in a woman. There are other causes of infertility for both genders, though other issues will usually be helped by a urologist for men or a gynecologist for women. Infertility affects millions of people throughout the world, and may be the cause of much heartache, thus if a endocrinologist can help to fix one's hormone levels they may provide immense happiness to a couple or individual.
Weight Problems. Another major disorder that endocrinologists have been known to help with are problems pertaining to one's weight. This could be a problem of not being able to lose or gain weight. Weight problems may be due to one's metabolism. A metabolism is basically the chemical processes that happen in order to process food. If one's metabolism is too fast they may not be able to gain weight, whereas if it is too slow they will put on weight quickly. Endocrinologists may be able to help an individual to level out their metabolism levels.
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As an elderly care worker, I have witnessed the deaths of many individuals. I have seen family members become angry, sad, and completely silent at the end. I have also seen individuals refuse to see family members out of denial. People deal with death in different ways, and the strong emotions are often unfamiliar and scary. If you have a parent or grandparent who is elderly, then I want to share with you what I know about end of life care and dying process. We are a society that does not talk about death, and this can cause great pain when a family member dies. Learn about the process and find out how to deal with your own emotions and how to love your family members at the end. If there is only a small amount of time left, then I want you to cherish the final moments.