Hyperparathyroidism is when your parathyroid glands make too much PTH. Parathyroid glands are a combination of four small glands that make a hormone that helps control the amount of calcium and phosphorus in the blood. This hormone is called “parathyroid hormone,” or “PTH.”

When the kidneys no longer work well, Calcium and phosphorus levels remain out of balance, weakening the bones. The parathyroid gland continues to produce the PTH hormone to try to fix the imbalance. In doing so, the gland grows bigger to make more PTH to fix an unfixable problem. If not controlled, the gland will need to be removed.