Essay On Acromegaly

Acromegaly affects both men and women, approximately 50 out every one million people. This disorder is usually not detected until the person is middle aged or longer because acromegaly produces slow changes over time, usually the characteristics that patients with acromegaly encounter are not even recognized by family, friends, or even a long time doctor. In your brain you have a pituitary gland, its located at the flat surface of your brain; it receives input from the hypothalamus which regulates the pituitaries release of hormones. If the pituitary gland neglects signals from the hypothalamus, it continues to release GH (growth hormones) which is the cause for acromegaly.
When the pituitary gland eventually stops producing growth hormones, an insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) reaches
Doctors typically start with surgery, they will enter the nose to reach the skull where the pituitary gland is located and remove all of the non-cancerous tumors, or at least as much as they can. Physicians start with this treatment because it tends to show rapid improvement in the patient. Medications are also given to slow down the production of the growth hormone, such as Bromocriptine. It’s taken orally and blocks the release of the patients GH. Octreotide is also given to treat acromegaly; it’s an injection to control the tumors. Octreotide must be injected 3 times a day which equals every 8 hours, 95% of patients respond positively to this injection with its prompt reduction of growth hormones, relief of fatigue, headaches, excessive sweating, arthralgia, and soft-tissue swelling. These medications may be effective but come with a big nuisance; the patient must orally take the medication or inject the medication for the rest of his/her life. (Patel, Y. (2000, June 1). Retrieved December 5, 2015, from