Everybody knows the body has multiple systems – the circulatory, respiratory and nervous systems, for starters. But almost nobody, it seems, knows much about his or her own body’s endocrine system – except, of course, physicians like Dr. Arturo Castro, a board-certified endocrinologist, who just opened an office here in Vero Beach.
It seems a bit odd the endocrine system is a mystery to so many people since it controls so much of what the human body does.
According to the Merck Manual, the world’s best-selling medical textbook, your metabolism, your height and weight, your sexual function, your ability to sleep, your day-to-day moods, your ability to fight off diseases like diabetes, and even your ability to reproduce are all controlled to some extent by the various glands of your endocrine system.
Those glands do get some help from organs such as the kidneys, liver and heart, since all of three of those do have secondary endocrine functions, but by and large, it’s the endocrine system that calls the shots for much of our daily physiological.
“When (people) talk about the endocrine system,” explains Castro, “they think they are talking about one thing but it’s not one thing and a lot of areas within the body are controlled by it.”
Maybe the lack of familiarity with the endocrine system has to do with the diversity of what it does and where it is in the body. Everyone knows the circulatory system centers on the heart and the respiratory system on the lungs but the endocrine system has components in the head and neck areas, the upper torso and the lower torso, too.
In its simplest possible terms, the endocrine system is a collection of glands – including the adrenal glands, the hypothalamus, the pancreas, the parathyroid, the thyroid, the pituitary and the pineal glands along with your testes or ovaries – that act as miniature factories. They absorb and process raw materials from your blood and convert those materials into hormones. Each gland then secretes its hormones back into the bloodstream with each one targeted for a specific organ or tissue group inside the body.
In other words, endocrinology is a wildly complex field and that suits Castro just fine. He enjoys that complexity saying simply, “I always like to think.”
A graduate of one of the oldest medical schools in the western hemisphere, the University of San Marcos, founded in 1551 in Lima, Peru, Castro brings more than just his 15-plus years of experience to the Indian River Medical Center. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists also certifies the bilingual Castro in endocrine neck ultrasound testing. While basic ultrasound has been in use for almost a decade, newer technologies now provide much more detail and accuracy in diagnosing both thyroid and parathyroid problems.
According to Castro, thyroid problems are the second most frequent reason people seek out an endocrinology specialist. Thyroid disorders are caused by an abnormality in the production of hormones within the thyroid gland. Too little hormone production is called hypothyroidism. Too much thyroid hormone results in a condition known as hyperthyroidism. Thyroid cancer begins when cells in the thyroid gland begin to change and grow uncontrollably, forming a tumor or tumors.
The number one reason people seek out an endocrinologist such as Castro, however, is diabetes. Upwards of 70 percent of the patients Castro saw in his Tampa office before moving here were diabetes-related and he expects a similar percentage in Vero.
That’s not surprising since the Mayo Clinic and the Centers for Disease Control both report the most common endocrine disease in the United States is diabetes: a pancreatic condition in which the body does not properly process glucose due to the lack of insulin.
According to Castro, after those two, “a potpourri of all the other glandular problems,” account for the rest of the patients he sees. That would include what is now known as “metabolic syndrome” which researchers say affects an estimated 34 percent of the adult population. In fairness, however, metabolic syndrome appears to be closely related to diabetes since the risk factors – high blood pressure, high blood sugar and belly fat – are essentially the same.
Also included in that “potpourri” of glandular problems are the production of adrenaline, estrogen and progesterone, melatonin and testosterone.
So, how does a patient know when he or she should seek out an endocrinologist? Castro admits that’s hard.
“The symptoms of a thyroid problem [such as fatigue] are so common they could be caused by anything,” he says. As a result, this physician with a taste for running, racquetball, Tae Kwon Do and soccer says that most of his patients come to him through referrals from primary care doctors.
That said, Castro does point out that with his background and training, he is probably in a better position to know which tests should be ordered for which patients with endocrine problems and how to most accurately interpret the results of those tests. “Sometimes,” Castro confides, “going to a specialist saves money.”
Dr. Arturo Castro just opened his office at 880 37th Place, Suite 105 in Vero Beach. He will be adding an internist to his practice shortly and is currently awaiting the delivery of his ultrasound diagnostic equipment. He is now accepting new patients. The office number is 772-562-9707.
