Neuroendocrine syndromes of the hypothalamus

These brief reviews of selected neuroendocrine or hypothalamic syndromes reinforce several important concepts. Although the hypothalamus may be relatively inaccessible to the neurologic clinician, it is, paradoxically, the region of the CNS that most closely communicates with virtually all other physiologic systems. This is evident by the fact that hypothalamic dysfunction is frequently associated with "non-neurologic" symptoms such as manifestations of endocrine, gastrointestinal, or gynecologic disease. Traditionally, the hypothalamus has been difficult to study, and progress in understanding hypothalamic disorders has been slow in both neuropathology as well as clinical neurology. Nevertheless, as neurology evolves from a descriptive specialty into one increasingly characterized by therapeutic intervention, the challenge of clinical hypothalamic disease offers many exciting possibilities to the neuropharmacologist, neuroendocrinologist, and all astute bedside clinicians.