Acromegaly
Acromegaly is caused by excessive production of growth hormone.
This usually occurs as the result of a benign (non-cancerous) brain tumour in the pituitary gland called an adenoma, but rare cases have been linked to tumours elsewhere in the body, such as in the lungs and pancreas.
Although acromegaly does very occasionally run in families, most adenomas are not inherited they usually develop spontaneously as a result of a genetic change within a cell of the pituitary gland. This genetic change switches on a signal that tells cells in the pituitary gland to divide and secrete growth hormone.
The tumour almost never spreads to other parts of the body, but it may grow to more than 1cm in size and compress the surrounding nerves and normal pituitary tissue, which can affect the production of other hormones, such as thyroid hormones released from the thyroid gland.
It's not clear exactly how many people are affected by acromegaly, although it's been estimated that around4 to 13 in every 100,000 people may have the condition.
This means there is likely to be between 2,500 and 8,300 people in the UK with the condition.
Acromegaly can affect people of any age, but it is rare in children. The average age at which people are diagnosed is around 40-45.
Acromegaly can cause a wide range of symptoms that tend to develop slowly over time. Typical symptoms include: joint pain; large hands and feet; carpal tunnel syndrome (compression of the nerve in the wrist, causing numbness and weakness of the hands); thick, coarse, oily skin; skin tags.
Acromegaly is caused by excessive production of growth hormone. This usually occurs as the result of a benign (non-cancerous) brain tumour in the pituitary gland called an adenoma, but rare cases have been linked to tumours elsewhere in the body, such as in the lungs and pancreas.
If acromegaly is left untreated, you may beat risk of the following health problems: type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension), cardiovascular disease, cardiomyopathy (a disease of the heart muscle), etc.
If your doctor suspects acromegaly from your symptoms, they will order blood tests to measure your levels of human growth hormone. Levels of growth hormone naturally vary from minute to minute as it is released from the pituitary glandin spurts.
Acromegaly is a condition in which the body produces too much growth hormone, leading to the excess growth of body tissues over time. Acromegaly is a genetic condition which develops when the pituitary glands in the brain overproduce growth hormone. This usually occurs before the onset of puberty.