Other names: Parathormone, Intact Parathyroid Hormone
Parathyroid hormone (PTH) helps the body maintain stable levels of calcium in the blood. It is part of a feedback loop that includes calcium, PTH, vitamin D, and, to some extent, phosphorus (phosphate) and magnesium. Conditions and diseases that disrupt this feedback loop can cause inappropriate elevations or decreases in calcium and PTH levels and lead to symptoms of hypercalcemia or hypocalcemia.
PTH is made by four tiny parathyroid glands in your neck. These glands control calcium levels in your blood. When calcium levels are too low, the glands release PTH to bring the calcium levels back up into a normal range. When your calcium levels rise, the glands stop releasing PTH.
Measuring PTH can help explain the reason for abnormal calcium levels.
Interpretive Guide |
Intact PTH |
Calcium |
Normal Parathyroid |
Normal |
Normal |
Hypoparathyroidism |
Low or Low Normal |
Low |
Hyperparathyroidism
|
|
|
Non-Parathyroid
|
|
|
If your test shows you have a lower than normal level of PTH, it may mean you have:
- Hypoparathyroidism
- An overdose of vitamin D or calcium
Interpretive Guide |
Intact PTH |
Calcium |
Normal Parathyroid |
Normal |
Normal |
Hypoparathyroidism |
Low or Low Normal |
Low |
Hyperparathyroidism
|
|
|
Non-Parathyroid
|
|
|
Understand and improve your laboratory results with our health dashboard.
Upload your lab reports and get your interpretation today.
Our technology helps to understand, combine, track, organize, and act on your medical lab test results.
If your test shows you have a higher than normal level of PTH, it may mean you have:
- Hyperparathyroidism
- A benign (noncancerous) tumor of the parathyroid gland
- Kidney disease
- A vitamin D deficiency
- A disorder that makes you unable to absorb calcium from food
Symptoms of high parathyroid hormone levels:
Since parathyroid hormone (PTH) mainly controls the amount of calcium in your blood, which has several important functions, the symptoms you’ll experience from high PTH levels are actually symptoms of high blood calcium levels.
Symptoms of high blood calcium levels (hypercalcemia) include:
- Joint pain and bone pain.
- More frequent urination and thirst.
- Muscle aches, weakness, cramping and/or twitches
- Fatigue.
- Depression and/or memory loss.
- Decrease in appetite.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Constipation.
Note: If you experience these symptoms of hypercalcemia, it’s important to contact your healthcare provider.
------------------------------
Hyperparathyroidism is an excess of parathyroid hormone in the bloodstream due to overactivity of one or more of the body's four parathyroid glands. These glands are about the size of a grain of rice and are located in your neck.
The parathyroid glands produce parathyroid hormone, which helps maintain an appropriate balance of calcium in the bloodstream and in tissues that depend on calcium for proper functioning.
Two types of hyperparathyroidism exist. In primary hyperparathyroidism, an enlargement of one or more of the parathyroid glands causes overproduction of the hormone, resulting in high levels of calcium in the blood (hypercalcemia), which can cause a variety of health problems. Surgery is the most common treatment for primary hyperparathyroidism.
Secondary hyperparathyroidism occurs as a result of another disease that initially causes low levels of calcium in the body and over time, increased parathyroid hormone levels occur.
Interpret Your Lab Results
Upload your lab report, and we'll interpret and provide you with recommendations today.
Get StartedMonthly plan
Annual plan
Own it for life
Our exclusive data entry service is a convenient way to get your results into your private dashboard. Simply attach an image or a file of your lab test results, and one of our qualified data entry team members will add the results for you. We support all sorts of files, whether PDFs, JPGs, or Excel. This service is excellent whether you have a lot of reports to upload or are too busy to do the data entry yourself.
We strive to make the data entry process easy for you. Whether by offering dozens of templates to choose from that pre-populate the most popular laboratory panels or by giving you instant feedback on the entered values. Our data entry forms are an easy, fast, and convenient way to enter the reports yourself. There is no limit on how many lab reports you can upload.
$15 /month
billed every month
Most popular
Data entry included
$79 /year
$6.60/month billed annually
Data entry included
$250 /once
own it for life
Are You a Health Professional?
Get started with our professional plan
Welcome to Healthmatters Pro.
Save time on interpreting lab results with the largest database of biomarkers online. In-depth research on any test at your fingertips, all stored and tracked in one place. Learn more
Pro Monthly Plus
for health professionals
$75 per month
At HealthMatters, we're committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We've put industry-leading security standards in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We use procedural, physical, and electronic security methods designed to prevent unauthorized people from getting access to this information. Our internal code of conduct adds additional privacy protection. All data is backed up multiple times a day and encrypted using SSL certificates. See our Privacy Policy for more details.
5-Methyltetrahydrofolate, Adiponectin, Albumin/Creatinine Ratio, Random Urine, Anti-Thyroglobulin ab. (0-39), C-Peptide, Serum, C-Peptide, Ultrasensitive (Endocrine Sciences), Ceruloplasmin, Creatinine, Random Urine, Cyclic AMP, Plasma, Dihydrotestosterone (female), Dihydrotestosterone (male), Estimated Average Glucose (eAG), Free Androgen Index, Free testosterone, Free Testosterone, Direct (Female), Free Testosterone, Direct (Male), Free Thyroxine, Free Thyroxine Index, Fructosamine, Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase, Glycated Serum Protein (GSP), Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), HOMA-B, HOMA-IR, HOMA-S, Homocysteine, Insulin (Fasting), Insulin Antibody, Insulin-Like Growth Factor I (IGF-1), Iodine, Serum/Plasma, Parathyroid Hormone (PTH), Serum, Pregnenolone, Proinsulin, Reverse T3, Serum, Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin (SHBG), T3, Free (Triiodothyronine), T4, Free, T4, Total (Thyroxine), T7 Index, Testost., % Free+Weakly Bound, Testost., % Free+Weakly Bound (female), Testost., F+W Bound (female), Testosterone, Testosterone (Female/Child), Testosterone, bioavailable, Testosterone, Serum (Female), Thyroglobulin, Thyroglobulin Antibodies (0 - 1 IU/L), Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (Anti-TPO Ab), Thyroid Stim Immunoglobulin, Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH), Thyrotropin Receptor Ab, Serum, Thyroxine-binding globulin, TBG, TMAO (Trimethylamine N-oxide), Total T3, Tri iodothyronine (T3) Uptake, Triiodothyronine, Serum, TSH Receptor Antibody (TBII)