Topic
Hormones and metabolism
The endocrine system beyond diabetes, from thyroid to bone to weight, evaluated on the evidence.
This page collects every article by Dr. Damon Tojjar in this topic. For all topics see browse by topic, and for the source-anchored record see damontojjar.com/record.
Articles in this topic (15)
- You Have an Adrenal Nodule Found by Accident: What the Evidence Says to Do Next
An adrenal mass found by accident on a scan ordered for something else needs two questions answered before anyone talks about surgery: does it look benign, and does...
- Why the TSH Normal Range Should Shift With Age, and How That Changes a Diagnosis
Why the age of the person changes the meaning of the numberA single fixed upper TSH limit, usually somewhere around 4.0 to 4.5 mIU/L, treats a healthy 80-year-old...
- Why 'Diabetes Insipidus' Was Renamed Arginine Vasopressin Deficiency (AVP-D)
In 2022 a multi-society working group proposed retiring "diabetes insipidus" in favor of two etiology-based names: arginine vasopressin deficiency (AVP-D) for the...
- How a Biotin Supplement Can Fake a Thyroid Disorder on a Blood Test
The short versionA high-dose biotin supplement can make a thyroid blood panel read as low TSH with elevated free T4 and free T3, the classic signature of an...
- How Doctors Screen for Cortisol Excess and Why One Abnormal Test Is Not a Diagnosis
Doctors screen for cortisol excess with three first-line tests: the overnight dexamethasone suppression test, late-night salivary cortisol, and 24-hour urinary free...
- GLP-1 Receptor Agonists Beyond Weight Loss: What SELECT and FLOW Actually Tested
Semaglutide's benefits reach past weight loss. In the SELECT trial, it cut major cardiovascular events by roughly 20 percent in people with obesity and established...
- How to Read a Thyroid Panel Without Overinterpreting a Single Number
A thyroid panel is a pattern, not a verdict from one line on a page. The single most useful habit is to read thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine...
- Combination T4 Plus T3 Therapy for Hypothyroidism and What the Trials Actually Show
The short answerLevothyroxine, a synthetic form of the thyroid hormone T4, remains the standard treatment for hypothyroidism because randomized trials have not...
- How PCOS Is Actually Diagnosed, and Why AMH Was Added in 2023
The short answerPolycystic ovary syndrome is diagnosed by counting features, not by a single test. Under the Rotterdam framework carried forward by the 2023...
- The Most Common Curable Cause of High Blood Pressure That Rarely Gets Tested
Primary aldosteronism is the most common curable hormonal cause of high blood pressure, and a simple blood test, the aldosterone-to-renin ratio, can flag it. Yet...
- When High Calcium Points to a Parathyroid Problem and How the Diagnosis Is Confirmed
A high calcium level on a routine blood panel is common, and one pattern points toward the parathyroid glands: elevated calcium paired with a parathyroid hormone...
- When Does Subclinical Hypothyroidism Warrant Levothyroxine? What the TRUST Trial Showed
A mildly elevated thyrotropin (TSH) with a normal free T4 is one of the most common lab abnormalities a person will ever see on a report, and in most cases it does...
- Why Your Testosterone Result Depends on the Assay: LC-MS/MS, Direct Free-T, and Standardization
Two blood draws can hand the same man two different testosterone numbers, and the assay is often the reason. The 2018 Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline...
- How TI-RADS and the Bethesda System Decide Which Thyroid Nodules Get a Biopsy
What these two systems actually measureTI-RADS and the Bethesda System do not diagnose thyroid cancer. Each converts a snapshot, one an ultrasound pattern, the...
- Should Asymptomatic Adults Be Screened for Vitamin D Deficiency? Reading the USPSTF I Statement
The short answerIn 2021 the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued an I statement on screening asymptomatic adults for vitamin D deficiency: the evidence is...