Home/Topics/Diseases & Disorders/metabolic disorder Diseases & Disorders Hormones, Diabetes & Metabolism metabolic disorder Listen Save Share Print Meaning of metabolic disorder: A condition in which normal metabolic processes are disrupted, usually because of a missing enzyme. Definition of metabolic disorder A condition in which normal metabolic processes are disrupted, usually because of a missing enzyme. Written and maintained by James Murray · Last updated July 21, 2026 Educational reference, not medical advice. Read the limitations. Keep exploringRelated termsMore in Diseases & Disorders → Diseases & Disorders PCOS Despite the name, the defining problem is hormonal rather than the small follicles that scans pick up, and it reaches well beyond the ovaries. Read definition → Medications & Pharmacology DES A drug whose harms surfaced a generation later, in the children exposed before birth rather than in the women who were treated. Read definition → Medications & Pharmacology duloxetine One drug licensed across mood and pain, duloxetine works partly through spinal cord pathways that damp pain signals before they reach the brain. Read definition → Healthcare Roles & Organizations endocrinologist Hormones travel everywhere, so this specialty is defined by the messenger rather than by a single organ or region of the body. Read definition →
Diseases & Disorders PCOS Despite the name, the defining problem is hormonal rather than the small follicles that scans pick up, and it reaches well beyond the ovaries. Read definition →
Medications & Pharmacology DES A drug whose harms surfaced a generation later, in the children exposed before birth rather than in the women who were treated. Read definition →
Medications & Pharmacology duloxetine One drug licensed across mood and pain, duloxetine works partly through spinal cord pathways that damp pain signals before they reach the brain. Read definition →
Healthcare Roles & Organizations endocrinologist Hormones travel everywhere, so this specialty is defined by the messenger rather than by a single organ or region of the body. Read definition →