Acromegaly

Description Acromegaly is a hormonal disorder that results from too much growth hormone (GH) in the body. The pituitary, a small gland in the brain, makes GH. In acromegaly, the pituitary produces excessive amounts of GH. Usually the excess GH comes from benign, or noncancerous, tumors on the pituitary. These benign tumors are called adenomas.

Causes Acromegaly is caused by the pituitary gland overproducing growth hormone (GH) over time. The pituitary, a small gland situated at the base of your brain behind the bridge of your nose, produces a number of hormones. GH plays an important role in managing your physical growth. When GH is secreted into your bloodstream, it triggers your liver to produce a hormone called insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). In turn, IGF-I stimulates the growth of bones and other tissues. If your pituitary gland makes too much GH, excessive amounts of IGF-I can result. Too much IGF-I can cause abnormal growth of your soft tissues and skeleton and other signs and symptoms characteristic of acromegaly and gigantism.

Symptoms joint aches thick, coarse, oily skin skin tags enlarged lips, nose, and tongue deepening of the voice due to enlarged sinuses and vocal cords sleep apnea-breaks in breathing during sleep due to obstruction of the airway excessive sweating and skin odor fatigue and weakness headaches impaired vision abnormalities of the menstrual cycle and sometimes breast discharge in women erectile dysfunction in men decreased libido

Prevention There are no methods to prevent the condition, but early treatment may prevent complications of the disease from getting worse.

Treatments Surgery to remove the pituitary tumor that is causing this condition usually corrects the abnormal growth hormone release in most patients. Sometimes the tumor is too large to remove completely. People who do not respond to surgery will have radiation of the pituitary gland. However, the reduction in growth hormone levels after radiation is very slow. Octreotide (Sandostatin) or bromocriptine (Parlodel) may control growth hormone release in some people. Pegvisomant (Somavert) directly blocks the effects of growth hormone, and has been shown to improve symptoms of acromegaly. These medications may be used before surgery, after surgery, or when surgery is not possible. After treatment, you will need to see your health care provider regularly to make sure that the pituitary gland is working normally. Yearly evaluations are recommended.

Famous People with Disease Andre the Giant Big Show Carel Struycken (Addams Family)

Sources http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/acromegaly/home/ovc-20177622 https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/endocrine-diseases/acromegaly http://pituitary.ucla.edu/acromegaly-89 http://www.hormone.org/diseases-and-conditions/pituitary/acromegaly https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/acromegaly/