HWN Suggests

About Pituitary Adenomas

Tumours of the pituitary gland (known as pituitary adenomas) are actually pretty common; they make up about 13% of all diagnosed brain tumours... a surprising number of people in the general population may have a pituitary adenoma without realising it. Often they don't cause any symptoms at all, with many adenomas only discovered on autopsy or when someone has an MRI for an unrelated reason. If you're ever accosted by your own brain cells, who tell you that they've decided to go neoplastic but they'll give you the choice of what kind of tumour to have (unlikely, but you never know), pick a pituitary adenoma.

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Articles of Interest

Pituitary Tumor a Culprit in Delayed Puberty

According to a study released by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, one in five people will develop a pituitary tumor. Only one-third of these will cause serious disorders. The pituitary is sometimes called the ''master gland.'' The size of a pea, it secretes hormones, and invaded by a tumor, it can halt or speed any hormonal function, drastically affecting bodily functions.

So what the hell is actually wrong with you, anyway?

There's a gland just under your brain called the pituitary gland (see above for a quick explanation) which makes a whole bunch of hormones. My pituitary has developed a tumour known as a pituitary adenoma. Fortunately the tumour is benign, but it makes a hormone called Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), which results in me having too much thyroid hormone; that creates all kinds of exciting symptoms like a superfast heartrate and the shakes.

Tests for Pituitary Tumors

Pituitary tumors are usually found when a person goes to the doctor because of symptoms they're having. But sometimes these tumors don’t cause symptoms, and they're found when a person has an imaging test of the head for some other health issue. (Tumors found this way are known as pituitary incidentalomas.)

The epidemiology of aggressive pituitary tumors (and its challenges)

Pituitary tumors are not rare if prevalence rates from autopsy or radiological series are considered; approximately 0.5% of all pituitary adenomas will come to medical attention. Less than 0.1% of these pituitary adenomas will become malignant, and probably around 0.5% of all detected adenomas will display an aggressive course.

The Patient Had Pain When He Walked, but There Was a More Telling Change

Dearborn reassured the man that the tumor wasn’t cancer but an overgrowth of the part of the pituitary gland, at the base of the brain, that makes growth hormone. Something happens to those cells so that they keep reproducing, long after their biggest job (growing) is over.

Tony Robbins Faces His Fears

Although helping others overcome fear is his business, he admits that he feels it, too. One worry is his health. He was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor at age 31, which explained why he grew 10 inches in one year as a teenager. The tumor mostly went away on its own, but the part that remains releases extra human growth hormone into his body—and that helps to give him the stamina to travel and speak so often, he says.

Treatment

The treatment for a pituitary adenoma depends on the type of tumour, as well as the patient. Essentially, there are three options, which may be used individually, or in combination: surgical removal, medication, and radiotherapy.

Was Goliath, After All, Just a Pushover?

An Israeli neurologist today came up with a medical explanation of how David could slay Goliath in the Biblical account. The neurologist, Vladimir Berginer, surmised that Goliath suffered from a hormonal disease that put him at a disadvantage against David and his slingshot. Goliath, who the Bible indicates was about 10 feet tall, suffered from a pituitary gland disease called acromegaly, the doctor concluded. ''This is the only disease where sufferers can grow to such a height,'' he said.

What if This Wasn’t Menopause After All?

The pituitary gland is just below the middle of the brain, at the level of the eyes. It used to be called the “master gland” because it secretes the hormones that run many of the body’s functions: growth, metabolism, lactation, sex drive and reproduction. She wasn’t sure what it meant to have a lesion there, but she immediately took the dentist’s advice and made an appointment with a neurologist.

Resources

Familial Isolated Pituitary Adenoma

A small number of patients with pituitary adenomas have family members with similar disease. Current research suggests that about 5% of patients with pituitary adenomas have inherited this condition.

Pituitary Ademoaner

I'm writing in a rather ad-hoc way about my experience with diagnosis and treatment of my pituitary adenoma,

Pituitary Network Association

Pituitary tumors are most commonly benign tumors associated with one of the body’s most prominent hormone-secreting structures—the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland is located between your eyes and in the middle of the head at the base of skull. Pituitary tumors are slow-growing, non-cancerous, and will not spread to other parts of the central nervous system or body.

American Association of Neurological Surgeons

The function of the pituitary can be compared to that of a household thermostat. The thermostat constantly measures the temperature in the house and sends signals to the heater to turn it on or off to maintain a steady, comfortable temperature. The pituitary constantly monitors bodily functions and sends signals to remote organs and glands to monitor their function and maintain the appropriate environment.

NINDS

Pituitary tumors often go undiagnosed because their symptoms resemble those of so many other more common diseases.

StatPearls

The pathogenesis of pituitary adenoma remains unknown. Most of the pituitary adenomas are sporadic.