"parathyroid" - Word of the Day from the OED

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parathyroid, adj. and n.

DRAFT REVISION Mar. 2009

Anat.,Zool., and Physiol.

Brit. /parrd/, U.S. /prard/  [< PARA- prefix¹ + THYROID n., after scientific Latin parathyreoideus (in glandula parathyreoidea, I. Sandström 1880, in Upsala Läkareförenings Förhandl. 15 466). Compare French parathyroïde (1896 as adjective, 1905 as noun).] 

    A. adj.

    I. Special uses.

    1. a. parathyroid gland n. any of several (in humans and other mammals, usually four) small endocrine glands located near or embedded in the thyroid gland, which produce a hormone that plays a major role in calcium metabolism.

1895 Jrnl. Physiol. 18 p. xxx, The tissue of the parathyroid gland does not at all resemble that of the thyroid in its adult form. 1948 L. C. MARTIN & M. HYNES Clin. Endocrinol. v. 101 Four parathyroid glands are normally situated at the posterior extremities of the lateral lobes of the thyroid. 1968 New Eng. Jrnl. Med. 21 Mar. 666/1 Parathyroid glands do not appear in evolution before the amphibians. 1992 Day (New London, Connecticut) 27 July A A6/1 Sometimes an underlying disease like an overactive parathyroid gland or an overdose of vitamin D disrupts calcium absorption of metabolism.

    b. parathyroid body n. now rare = parathyroid gland n. at sense A. 1a.

1897 Science 9 July 38/1 In this list we can place such glands as the liver, pancreas, thyroid and parathyroid bodies. 1947 Q. Rev. Biol. 22 126/2 The different anatomical situation of the parathyroid bodies in the rabbit and the dog had not been taken into account. 1999 Dis. Esophagus 12 314 Esopharyngolaryngeal resection for carcinoma of the cervical esophagus must be accompanied by resection of the thyroid gland, parathyroid bodies, and regional lymph nodes.

    c. parathyroid glandule n. disused = parathyroid gland n. at sense A. 1a.

1906 Jrnl. Med. Res. 15 399 It has been suggested that paralysis agitans is due to insufficiency of the parathyroid glandules. 1934 Proc. Royal Soc. B. 115 88 The conception that these and other adenomas of the ductless glands as those of the parathyroid glandules and pancreatic islets represent actively secreting conglomerations of normal cells.

    2. parathyroid hormone n. Physiol. a polypeptide hormone secreted by the parathyroid glands, which acts on the bones, kidneys, and intestine to increase the amount of calcium in the blood; = PARATHORMONE n.

1925 Jrnl. Biol. Chem. 63 395 (title) The extraction of a parathyroid hormone which will prevent or control parathyroid tetany and which regulates the level of blood calcium. 1985 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 1 June 1628/1 Diagnosis is confirmed by showing an absent urinary cyclic response of adenosine-5´-monophosphate (AMP) to parathyroid hormone infusion. 2004 Washington Post (Home ed.) 16 Mar. F4/1 The drug contains a synthetic form of human parathyroid hormone, the primary regulator of calcium and phosphate in bones.

    II. General uses.

    3. Of or relating to the parathyroid gland.

1907 Science 9 Aug. 172/2 It has been found that the symptoms of tetany following parathyroidectomy in dogs can be inhibited by the hypodermic injection of parathyroid nucleoproteid. 1949 H. W. C. VINES Green's Man. Pathol. (ed. 17) xxxii. 860 The classical syndrome of parathyroid hypersecretion is osteitis fibrosa cystica. 1966 G. P. WRIGHT & W. S. SYMMERS Systemic Pathol. II. xxxii. 1130/1 ‘Parathyroid poisoning’ is a term that has been applied to the sudden increase in the extent of metastatic calcification of organs..when a high calcium diet is forced on the hyperparathyroid patient. 1987 E. W. BURR Compan. Bird Med. xii. 73/1 Arnall et al...reports the occurrence of osteomalacia in old parrots with parathyroid tumors (primary hyperparathyroidism). 1993 Brit. Jrnl. Surg. 80 454/2 Two intrathyroidal parathyroid adenomas were found in 47 resected thyroid specimens.

    B. n.    A parathyroid gland.

1896 Proc. Royal Soc. 1895-6 59 360 Partial thyroidectomy was so performed as to remove both the parathyroids. 1897 T. C. ALLBUTT et al. Syst. Med. III. 314 Certain bodies known as accessory thyroids and parathyroids. 1927 R. C. MACFIE Body 76 Under the lobes of the thyroid are four little glands, a pair on each side called the parathyroids. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 1 Mar. 136/1 There are two parathyroids in the bird. 1984 J. R. TIGHE & D. R. DAVIES Pathol. (ed. 4) xxii. 209 A rim of normal parathyroid is compressed around the tumour. 1993 Brit. Jrnl. Surg. 80 40/1 Autotransplantation of parathyroid fragments into forearm muscle and cryopreservation of reserve parathyroid.

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    DERIVATIVES

    parathyroidal adj. rare of or relating to a parathyroid gland.

1897 T. C. ALLBUTT et al. Syst. Med. III. 314 *Parathyroidal and thyroidal tissue do not play an equivalent part in preventing the development of the symptoms which follow thyroidectomy. 1987 Internat. Surg. 72 104 Of the 90 cases of primary hyperparathyroidism surgically treated in our department over the last decade (1975-1985), ten cases had a mediastinal parathyroidal adenoma. 2003 ANZ Jrnl. Surg. 73 284 Parathyroid rests were found in 37% of extra parathyroidal tissues submitted for analysis.

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