Am J Psychiatry 1975; 132:129-132
Copyright © 1975 by American Psychiatric Association
Mental changes associated with hyperparathyroidism
JW Gatewood, CH Organ Jr and BT Mead
To document the point that the hyperparathyroidism should be considered a
possible cause of unexplained neurological and psychiatric symptoms, the
authors present five case reports of confirmed primary hyperparathyroidism
in which the patients initially appeared with problems that seemed mainly
psychiatric. The presenting symptoms in these cases consisted of varying
degrees of depression, catatonia, confusion, disorientation, fatigue, and
lethargy; there was no associated bone or renal pathology in four of the
cases. The authors include a review of the pertinent literature and a
discussion of the effect of calcium and magnesium bivalent ions on the
central nervous system associated with hyperparathyroidism. They conclude
that more investigation of the role of magnesium in this disease seems
warranted.
