Endocrinology is the study of hormones, which are essential for health and wellbeing. Hormones are biological messengers that travel throughout the body, telling cells and tissues what to do. When they are out of balance or fail, this can lead to the development of prevalent chronic diseases such as diabetes, thyroid disorders, cancer, osteoporosis and obesity, and other health challenges such as infertility. There are also more than 400 rare endocrine conditions that affect millions of people in Europe, but often go undetected.
To learn more about endocrinology and the endocrine system, watch the animation (left), which was prepared for European Hormone Day 2023.
Joining forces to raise the profile of endocrine health and disease – #BecauseHormonesMatter
Despite scientific progress and increased awareness in some areas, there’s still a lot more that can be done. To raise awareness about the importance of good hormone health and help the endocrine community share and support each other’s activities, we encourage everyone to use the hashtag #BecauseHormonesMatter on social media and on endocrine-related awareness days.
There are many European and worldwide initiatives that we can all add our voice to (perhaps your organisation has one, too). As part of our European Hormone Day toolkit, we published a calendar of awareness-raising days to help the endocrine community focus our combined efforts over the coming year, which you can download here:
You can also follow our @BecauseHormonesMatter Instagram account, where we share public-facing information about hormone health and celebrate the fantastic work of the endocrine community.
The story of European Hormone Day
European Hormone Day is our flagship awareness-raising campaign, jointly organised by ESE and the European Hormone and Metabolism Foundation (ESE Foundation). The initiative, which began in 2022, brings together the endocrine community to put the spotlight on endocrine health and issue a collective call for change about how hormones and endocrine-related disease are addressed in public policy across Europe.
- In 2022, 35 national and specialist endocrine societies endorsed “Recognising the key role of hormones in European health: the Milano Declaration”, published jointly by ESE and ESE Foundation, which calls for stronger emphasis of endocrine perspectives in European health policies.
- In 2023, ESE and the ESE Foundation published "10 Recommendations for Good Hormone Health" with simple actions each of us can take to ensure better hormonal health.
- In 2023, we also published Because Hormones Matter: Working together to raise awareness and promote better endocrine health in Europe, which included a calendar to help the endocrine community focus our combined efforts over the coming year. This was updated for 2024.
