Thyroidectomy Question

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kismetcatcher

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This question is from Kaplan....

A patient who has had her thyroid removed complains of nausea, tetany, numbness, and tingling around her lips. Excess of what mineral most likely contributes to these symptoms?

A. PTH
B. Calcitonin
C. Phosphorus
D. Calcium

Kaplan explains that since the parathyroid gland is ensheathed in the thyroid, the patient must have a lack of PTH, which regulates calcium homeostasis--> so D. But my understanding is that since PTH leads to increase in serum calcium level, a lack of PTH would mean there would be a decrease in calcium concentration.

Help, anyone??? Thank you!

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This question is from Kaplan....

A patient who has had her thyroid removed complains of nausea, tetany, numbness, and tingling around her lips. Excess of what mineral most likely contributes to these symptoms?

A. PTH
B. Calcitonin
C. Phosphorus
D. Calcium

Kaplan explains that since the parathyroid gland is ensheathed in the thyroid, the patient must have a lack of PTH, which regulates calcium homeostasis--> so D. But my understanding is that since PTH leads to increase in serum calcium level, a lack of PTH would mean there would be a decrease in calcium concentration.

Help, anyone??? Thank you!

The word mineral tells you it has to be C or D. PTH and Calcitonin are both hormones. Calcium is also associated with tetany.
 
The word mineral tells you it has to be C or D. PTH and Calcitonin are both hormones. Calcium is also associated with tetany.

Thanks!

But that still doesn't answer why calcium should be in excess in the serum though... and isn't tetany related to low calcium serum concentration??

dragon529: I checked two sources and both say that calcitonin doesn't regulate calcium homeostasis that much... wikipedia says that if you remove the thyroid but not the parathyroid, you still get fairly normal calcium levels. Hmmm.

Maybe the question meant to say LACK OF instead of EXCESS?
 
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Thanks!

But that still doesn't answer why calcium should be in excess in the serum though... and isn't tetany related to low calcium serum concentration??

dragon529: I checked two sources and both say that calcitonin doesn't regulate calcium homeostasis that much... wikipedia says that if you remove the thyroid but not the parathyroid, you still get fairly normal calcium levels. Hmmm.

Maybe the question meant to say LACK OF instead of EXCESS?

Here is another way of solving this problem.

Thyroid makes calcitonin. Calcitonin lowers calcium levels in the blood.

If we remove the thyroid we eliminate the production of calcitonin and hence Calcium level in the blood goes up.
 
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