The relative position of the inferior and superior glands, which are named according to their final location, changes because of the migration of embryological tissues.

Hyperparathyroidism and hypoparathyroidism, characterized by alterations in the blood calcium levels and bone metabolism, are states of either surplus or deficient parathyroid function.

The parathyroid glands originate from the interaction of the endoderm of the third and fourth pouch and neural crest mesenchyme.

Parathyroid development is regulated by a number of genes, including those coding for several transcription factors.

[11] Parathyroid hormone (also known as parathormone) is a small protein that takes part in the control of calcium and phosphate homeostasis, as well as bone physiology.

Hyperparathyroidism is most commonly caused by a benign proliferation of chief cells in one parathyroid gland, and rarely in MEN syndrome.

Pseudo-pseudohypoparathyroidism, one of the longest words in the English language, is used to describe an individual with Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy with normal parathyroid hormone and serum calcium levels.

[17] In his description of the neck anatomy, Owen referred to the glands as "a small compact yellow glandular body attached to the thyroid at the point where the veins emerged".

The glands were first discovered in humans by Ivar Viktor Sandström (1852–1889), a Swedish medical student, in 1880 at Uppsala University.

[21] Eugene Gley, Giulio Vassale, and others documented the putative function of the glands in 1891, noting the connection between their removal and the development of muscular tetany.

[22] The first successful removal of the parathyroid may have been carried out in 1928 by medical doctor Isaac Y Olch, whose intern had noticed elevated calcium levels in an elderly patient with muscle weakness.

Prior to this surgery, patients with removed parathyroid glands typically died from muscular tetany.

Studies of parathyroid hormone levels by Roger Guillemin, Andrew Schally and Rosalyn Sussman Yalow led to the development of immunoassays capable of measuring body substances and a Nobel Prize in 1977.

The removal of parathyroid glands in animals produces a condition resembling acute poisoning with irregular muscle contractions.

Developmental genes and calcium-sensing receptors in fish gills are similar to those within the parathyroid glands of birds and mammals.