Endocrinology is the study of hormones both in health and disease which regulate various processes in the body.

One of the most important processes which hormones regulate is that of metabolism, which is the way your body transports and processes fuels required for normal cellular function. Abnormalities in metabolism may result in many diseases including diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolaemia and obesity which in turn may lead to complications such as cardiovascular disease.

Hormones function as chemical messengers which may bring about changes to the body such as growth and puberty, but more importantly allow the body to maintain a stable internal environment (homeostasis) in adaptation to environmental changes. The elegance by which thousands of hormones are regulated and interact continuously with each other and every other organ system in the body is enormously complex, but this makes endocrinology one of the most interesting disciplines in medicine.

Various organs are responsible to sense changes in the body and change the secretion of hormones in response to these changes. This includes the pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, pancreas, adrenal, ovaries and testes. Various diseases of these organs and their hormones may result in diseases that may affect other organs such as the heart, brain, skin, bones and reproductive organs. As such endocrinology requires an in depth understanding of all organ systems as well as that of the endocrine organs.

Endocrinology is the study of hormones both in health and disease which regulate various processes in the body.

One of the most important processes which hormones regulate is that of metabolism, which is the way your body transports and processes fuels required for normal cellular function. Abnormalities in metabolism may result in many diseases including diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolaemia and obesity which in turn may lead to complications such as cardiovascular disease.

Hormones function as chemical messengers which may bring about changes to the body such as growth and puberty, but more importantly allow the body to maintain a stable internal environment (homeostasis) in adaptation to environmental changes. The elegance by which thousands of hormones are regulated and interact continuously with each other and every other organ system in the body is enormously complex, but this makes endocrinology one of the most interesting disciplines in medicine.

Various organs are responsible to sense changes in the body and change the secretion of hormones in response to these changes. This includes the pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, pancreas, adrenal, ovaries and testes. Various diseases of these organs and their hormones may result in diseases that may affect other organs such as the heart, brain, skin, bones and reproductive organs. As such endocrinology requires an in depth understanding of all organ systems as well as that of the endocrine organs.

Specialist Physician and Endocrinologist

Qualifications: MB,ChB(Stell), MMed(Int)(Stell), MPhil (Endo)(Stell), FCP(SA), Cert Endo & Metab (SA) Phys

Dr Elmo Pretorius is originally from Somerset West. After matriculating as one of the top 20 students in the Western Cape from Parel Vallei High School in 2000 he studied medicine (MB,ChB) at Stellenbosch University which he obtained cum laude in 2006. After his 2-year internship which he performed at Helen Joseph and Rahima Moosa Hospitals in Johannesburg, he returned to the Western Cape for community service at Khayelitsha Site B community health centre and Eerste River District Hospital.

In 2010, he started working as a medical officer in internal medicine at Tygerberg Academic Hospital. He commenced training as a registrar in internal medicine in the same year and rotated through cardiology, pulmonology, critical care, nephrology, neurology, infectious diseases, endocrinology and general internal medicine. He was admitted as a fellow of the college of physicians of South Africa and qualified as a specialist physician in 2014. He also obtained his Master of Medicine (Internal Medicine) degree from Stellenbosch University in the same year.

He was awarded the SEMDSA (Society for endocrinology, metabolism and diabetes of South Africa) fellowship which allowed him to subspecialise in endocrinology and metabolism at Tygerberg Academic Hospital.  He passed the certificate in the subspeciality of endocrinology of the college of physicians of South Africa and is registered as an endocrinologist with the health professions council since 2017. He was also awarded a masters degree in endocrinology from Stellenbosch University.