REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM DISEASE

any of the diseases and disorders that affect the human reproductive system. They include abnormal hormone production coming from the ovaries or the testes or from other endocrine glands, such as the pituitary, thyroid, and adrenals. Such diseases can also be caused by genetic abnormalities, congenital anomalies (abnormalities), infections, tumours, and disorders of unknown cause. The main divisions of this article are concerned with (1) genetic and congenital abnormalities; (2) functional genital disorders; (3) infections; (4) structural changes of unknown cause; and (5) tumours. For discussion of diseases and disorders of pregnancy, see pregnancy. For diseases and disorders during labour, see parturition. Endocrine disorders affecting reproductive organs and functions and discussed in the article endocrine system, human. Additional reading Diseases of the human reproductive system are treated in James B. Wyngaarden, Lloyd H. Smith, Jr., and J. Claude Bennett (eds.), Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 19th ed. (1992); Campbell's Urology, 6th ed. edited by Patrick C. Walsh et al., 3 vol. (1992), one of the most complete textbooks in the field of urology; Donald R. Smith, General Urology, 11th ed. (1984), well written; Robert W. Kistner (ed.), Gynecology, 4th ed. (1986), a detailed work; Novak's Textbook of Gynecology, 11th ed. by Howard W. Jones III, Anne Colston Wentz, and Lonnie S. Burnett (1988); Stephen C. Rubin and Gregory P. Sutton (eds.), Ovarian Cancer (1993); Charles E. Rinear, The Sexually Transmitted Diseases (1986); and L.C. Parish and Friedrich Gschnait (eds.), Sexually Transmitted Diseases: A Guide for Clinicians (1989). Nicholas A. Romas John Kingsley Lattimer The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica