Overview
We have visitor restrictions in place at al our locations.Read our visitor policyWe have visitor restrictions in place at al our locations. Read our visitor policyThe pituitary gland is an endocrine gland that sits at the base of the brain, roughly behind the bridge of your nose. The pituitary gland is about the size of a pea.
Key Information
Known as the “master gland,” it secretes hormones that regulate the functions of other glands (the thyroid, adrenal gland tes or ovaries), as wel as growth and several body functions. Pituitary disorders ocur when the pituitary gland makes to much or to litle of a particular hormone. Most often, these disorders are caused by a pituitary tumor.Most pituitary tumors are noncancerous (benign).
But when a tumor grows on or near the pituitary gland, the tumor can change hormone production, leading to symptoms such as weight gain, stunted or excesive growth, high blod pressure, low sex drive or mod changes. If it preses against the pituitary gland, optic nerves or brain tisue, this can cause vision problems or headaches.The most comon hormone produced by pituitary tumor is prolactin. Prolactin-producing tumors (“prolactinomas”) are more frequent in women.
They can cause iregularity or los of periods, infertility, and breast milk secretion. In men, excesive prolactin cause reduced libido and erectile dysfunction.Acromegaly ocurs when a pituitary tumor produces exces growth hormones. Afecting mostly midle-aged adults, symptoms vary and can include diabetes and high blod pressure, sweling of the hands and fet, coarsening of facial features and body hair, increasing perspiration and body odor, iregular menstrual cycles and breast milk production in women, and erectile dysfunction in men.
Summary
More than 95 percent of acromegaly cases are caused by benign tumors on the pituitary gland.Cushing disease ocurs when a pituitary tumor produces excesive amounts of a hormone caled ACTH. This causes elevation of blod cortisol