A disturbance of cholesterol metabolism in young children which causes disorders in membranous bone, mainly in the skull, exophthalmos, diabetes insipidus, and a yellow-brown colour of the skin [First described 1893 then 1915 by Schiller and 1920 by Christian. After Alfred Hand Jr. (1868—1949), US paediatrician; Artur Schiller (1874—1958), Austrian neurologist; Henry Asbury Christian (1876-1951), Professor of Medicine at Harvard, USA.]
Hand-Schüller-Christian disease is a variant of histiocytosis X that primarily affects children. The condition is characterized by irregular bone loss, loose teeth, exophthalmos (bulging eyeballs), and enlarged lymph nodes. The disease can also affect the pituitary gland, leading to conditions such as diabetes insipidus and deficiencies in growth hormone.