Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department issues on the diagnosis and early treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism; and if he will make a statement.

Hyperparathyroidism is a rare hormone disorder caused by the parathyroid glands in the neck producing too much parathyroid hormone. This causes blood calcium levels to rise (hypercalcaemia) and blood phosphorus levels to fall (hypophosphatemia).

Best practice guidance concerning the diagnosis and early treatment of both primary and secondary hyperparathyroidism has been published by the British Medical Journal. The guidance can be found via the Best Practice portal at the following link.

http://bestpractice.bmj.com/best-practice/welcome.html

In addition to this, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Clinical Knowledge Summaries website provide similar information on the management of hyperparathyroidism in the context of it being a cause of hypercalcaemia.

http://cks.nice.org.uk/hypercalcaemia