Pituitary Gland Essay

1831 Words4 Pages

Diseases Of The Pituitary Gland
The pituitary gland is a tiny organ the size of a pea located at the base of the brain. Despite its size, it is generally regarded as the master gland of the body, because it produces many hormones that travel throughout the body, as it directs certain processes and/or stimulates other hormones producing glands as well. The pituitary gland also stores many different hormones such as;
Prolactin, which stimulates breast milk production after childbirth, and it affects hormone levels in the ovaries in women and in the testes in men, as well as intervening in fertility, Growth hormone (GH) which stimulates bone growth and cell …show more content…

Occasionally some immune deficiency disorders such as sarcoidosis, histiocytosis X, and hemochromatosis can also cause this deficiency. Postpartum hypopituitarism occurs after severe hemorrhage during childbirth, since the massive loss of blood causes great tissue death in the pituitary gland, and when all the hormones released by the anterior pituitary gland fail, the disorder is usually referred as panhypopituitarism or complete pituitary failure. Hypopituitarism is a clinical definition used to describe when one or more functions of the gland are deficient, and it may refer to either or both anterior and posterior functional failure. Its incidence is of about 1 out 10,000 people suffering the disorder. In cases of hypopituitarism, single or multiple hormone deficiencies may be present concurrently, and the deficiencies affect each target organ activity or secretion on the thyroid, adrenal, or gonads glands, which also includes female and male sexual development. In children the condition results in …show more content…

Replacement of antidiuretic hormone resolves the symptoms of increased thirst and urination observed in DI sufferers. When a tumor is determined to be the culprit to DI, surgery to have it extracted may be the only alternative; however, hormone replacement therapy may be also imperative thereafter.
In general, pituitary disorders and diseases are rather common maladies, specially those derived from tumors, since at least one in five people may develop one, although they are often mostly benign; yet, despite being continuously researched, the cause of these remains unknown. Most of them arise without any genetic bias, and very few are inherited, but still the intensive research has not yet discovered why they are so common. In the past, pituitary tumors incidences were not included in the statistic collected by state cancer registries and the National Cancer Institute, but since 2002 it has been legally mandated that hospitals, clinics, and independent doctors report any pituitary tumor incidence rates when collecting data for cancer registry. This is indeed a very important step in the road towards finding further about the conditions prompting these cancerous growths to arise, because the pituitary gland is one of the most vitally

More about Pituitary Gland Essay

Open Document