Patients of all ages can have hyperparathyroidism and parathyroid diseases

Children, teenagers, and adults may have parathyroid problems with high serum calcium levels (blood calcium). The symptoms associated with hyperparathyroidism disorder and high serum calcium levels are diffuse and vague. Hypercalcemia can affect every organ in the body and therefore can cause symptoms related to every organ system. Because these symptoms are vague and diffuse, they are often overlooked and attributed to other problems. Hypercalcemia associated with hyperparathyroidism can occur in any age. Children, adults, and geriatric patient can have primary hyperparathyroidism associated with excess calcium in blood. Although this disease is very common in older women, it does occur in both men and women and occurs in young patients as well as children.

Symptoms of hypercalcemia are often attributed to other problems. High serum calcium levels can cause fatigue and vague feelings of ill-health. The fatigue is often not recognized as being a symptom of a pathologic condition but is considered to be a normal result of the patient’s schedule and workload. In fact patients that are treated for hyperparathyroidism do not realize how well they could feel until after their calcium has been corrected. Most Americans at any age are somewhat overworked and sleep-deprived and therefore consider fatigue to be part of their normal life. Often they accept this fatigue as being a normal consequence of their responsibilities. The fact however is that many patients with hypercalcemia are fatigued because of the effect of the high calcium levels. They therefore have the potential to eliminate this fatigue by treatment of their hypercalcemia.

Memory loss is a second symptom often associated with high serum calcium levels. Specifically in patients who have been treated for hypercalcemia the immediate improvement in their memory after return-to-normal calcium levels is often quite dramatic. Similar to fatigue, this symptom is often ignored by the patient or assumed to be a result of other processes. In older patients they often attribute the memory loss to the ageing process. The young adults often attribute the memory effect to being just careless or forgetful. Many times they consider it as sequelae of being careless. With correction of the high calcium levels and return-to-normal, the improvement in memory can be quite dramatic.

Associated with fatigue is an element of irritability and mood changes. Every patient has suffered poor sleep at some time, and realizes that when they are fatigued they are more irritable and their mood can be affected. The chronic fatigue is exponentially more significant in causing these changes. Patients with hypercalcemia suffer from chronic fatigue that may go undiagnosed for many years and develop changes in their mood and often are quite irritable. With chronic changes of fatigue and irritability, there is an effect on their personality. Patients with chronic hypercalcemia often find that their behavior has changed and their personality is not the same as it was before their hypercalcemia.

Associated with chronic fatigue, irritability, and mood changes is an element of depression. The changes associated with being chronically fatigued can affect the patient’s perception in many ways. With chronic irritability, depression may be a result of elevated levels of blood calcium. Calcium level blood tests are done to determine the correction of the problem and often when calcium levels in the body have returned to normal, there is amazing improvement in mood and often elimination of depression.