Endocrinology

Endocrinology is a branch of biology that studies hormones and their effects on the body. As practitioners of one of the medical specialties, physicians who are endocrinologists treat patients with disorders of the endocrine system. That part of the human body includes the glands, like the pituitary, pancreas, thyroid and adrenals, that produce hormones. Now the regulation of hormones within the body is a delicate balancing of many factors, and imbalances can have enormous consequences for health, growth, and even the aquisition of the characteristics, like having a beard or developing breast tissue, that are the outward manifestations of being a grown man or woman, that is, of biological gender. Endocrinology includes the study of both the normal processes that are directed by hormones, as well as the disease states, and unusual features, that are associated with the effects of hormonal imbalances.