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Hormones and Calcium Metabolism 



B. E. C. NORDIN 

 Mineral Metabolism unit, the General Infirmary, Leeds, England 



Introduction 



The literature on the effects of hormones on bone and calcium metabolism is so 

 large that it is impossible to review it adequately. All this paper will attempt to do is 

 to report selected papers which appear to the writer to shed significant light upon the 

 action of hormones on calcium and bone metabolism in man. Parathyroid hormone 

 and calcitonin have been deliberately omitted. 



Thyroid hormone 



Thyrotoxic bone disease had been recognised for a long time when Aub et al. 

 (1929) first noted the increased excretion of calcium in the urine and faeces which is a 

 feature of hyperthyroidism. The nature of this bone disorder was not defined until 

 much later, however, when Albright and Reifenstein (1948) recognised it as a form 

 of osteoporosis which they attributed to malnutrition resulting from an increased 



