Gigantism: Growth Hormone and Insulin-like Growth Factor

gigantism is known to be caused by a tumour of the pituitary gland, a gland located at the base of the brain from where it releases hormones that regulate several functions of the body – one being growth. Pituitary tumours can cause tissues to grow abnormally resulting in certain changes in facial appearance, enlarged hands and feet, headache and sweating – eyesight too can be affected; this condition is called acromegaly. If someone has excess growth hormone, they become excessively tall and become an acromegalic giant. About one in 20 people will have an abnormality in their pituitary gland and based on some recent demographic studies, about one in 1,000 people probably have a symptomatic pituitary adenoma.

The disease gigantism and hypertrophy (Abnormal enlargement of a body part or organ) are of the cases (Acromegaly) of the rare cases that occur due to excessive secretion of growth hormone from the pituitary gland. Cases of inflation occurs because of an injury pituitary tumour benign (Not dangerous to health; not recurrent or progressive especially of a tumour) leads to an abnormal swelling of the hands, feet and jaw bones, especially the lower jaw and the bones of the skull. In very rare cases of this tumour appears in children under the age of ten, causing an increase in the growth of the body in a comprehensive manner. The disease known as gigantism (GIGANTISM), and the children 's bodies grow with this condition to an enormous degree, where the length of the child could reach them to about two meters and a half meter. Due to inflation of the internal organs in proportion to the excessive growth of the body in the cases of hypertrophy of gigantism, this might lead to complications of infection include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, arthritis and polyps (growths) of the colon. In case of increase in pituitary tumour size, it may put pressure on the nerves of the eye leading to loss of sight and of injury.

Sandy Allen—the

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