Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get StartedComplications
By Mayo Clinic staffComplications of hyperparathyroidism are primarily related to the long-term effect of too little calcium in your bones and too much calcium circulating in your bloodstream. Common complications include:
- Osteoporosis. The loss of calcium often results in osteoporosis, or weak, brittle bones that fracture easily.
- Kidney stones. The excess of calcium in your blood may cause small, hard deposits of calcium and other substances to form in your kidneys. A kidney stone usually causes significant pain as it passes through the urinary tract.
- Cardiovascular disease. Although the exact cause-and-effect link is unclear, high calcium levels are associated with cardiovascular conditions, such as high blood pressure (hypertension) and certain types of heart disease.
- Neonatal hyperparathyroidism. Severe, untreated hyperparathyroidism in pregnant women may cause dangerously low levels of calcium in newborns.
- Rodgers SE, et al. Primary hyperparathyroidism. Current Opinion in Oncology 2008;20:52.
- The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons position statement on the diagnosis and management of primary hyperparathyroidism. Endocrine Practice. 2005;11:49.
- Hyperparathyroidism. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://www.endocrine.niddk.nih.gov/pubs/hyper/hyper.htm. Accessed March 23, 2009.
- El-Hajj Fuleihan G. Clinical manifestations of primary hyperparathyroidism. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 23, 2009.
- Taniegra ED. Hyperparathyroidism. American Family Physician. 2004;69:333.
- Bringhurst FR. Hormones and disorders of mineral metabolism. In: Kronenberg, HM, et al., eds. Williams Textbook of Endocrinology. 11th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/127508547-4/0/1555/168.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2911-3..50029-7--p1224. Accessed March 23, 2009.
- Dietary supplement fact sheet: Vitamin D. National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD_pf.asp. Accessed March 24, 2009.
- Dietary supplement fact sheet: Calcium. National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Calcium_pf.asp. Accessed March 24, 2009.
- Phosphorus. Foods Standards Agency (UK). Accessed March 25, 2009.
- Wuthrich RP, et al. The role of calcimimetics in the treatment of hyperparathyroidism. European Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2007;37:915.
- Silverberg SJ, et al. Management of asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 23, 2009.