Respiratory manifestations in endocrine diseases

The control mechanisms of respiration as a vital function are complex: voluntary – cortical, and involuntary – metabolic, neural, emotional and endocrine. Hormones and hypothalamic neuropeptides (that act as neurotrasmitters and neuromodulators in the central nervous system) play a role in the regulation of respiration and in bronchopulmonary morphology. This article presents respiratory manifestations in adult endocrine diseases that evolve with hormone deficit or hypersecretion. In hyperthyroidism, patients develop ventilation disorders, obstructive and central sleep apnea, and pleural collection. The respiratory abnormalities in hyperthyroidism as a result of the hypermetabolic action of thyroid hormones are hyperventilation, myopathy and cardiovascular involvement; recent studies have reported pulmonary arterial hypertension in Graves’ disease, as a result of the association of several mechanisms. Thyroid hypertrophy can induce through compression of the upper airways dyspnea, stridor, wheezing and cough. The respiratory disorders in acromegaly are ventilatory dysfunction and sleep apnea, which contribute to an unfavorable evolution of the disease. Respiratory changes in parathyroid, adrenal and reproductive system diseases have been described. Respiratory disorders should be recognized, investigated and monitored by medical practitioners of various specialties (family physicians, internists, endocrinologists, pneumologists, cardiologists). They are frequently severe, causing an unfavorable evolution of the associated endocrine and respiratory disease.