Acromegaly

Introduction: Acromegaly

Acromegaly: A hormonal disorder involving excess growth hormone production by the pituitary gland. More detailed information about the symptoms, causes, and treatments of Acromegaly is available below.

Symptoms of Acromegaly

• Mild symptoms - initially, the onset of acromegaly is often slow and insidious
• Headaches
• Blurred vision
• Enlarged hands
• Enlarged feet

See full list of 71 symptoms of Acromegaly

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Acromegaly:

• Thyroid: Home Testing:
  • Home Thyroid Function Tests
  • Home TSH Tests
  • Home Adrenal Function Tests

Medical Textbooks Online about Acromegaly

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Tests for Acromegaly

• Growth hormone blood test (fasting)
• Oral glucose tolerance test
• IGF-1 level blood test
• CT scan - of pituitary or other organs, seeking the tumor
• GHRH blood test - useful to detect non-pituitary tumors

See full list of 6 diagnostic tests for Acromegaly

Wrongly Diagnosed with Acromegaly?

• Misdiagnosis of Acromegaly
• Underlying causes of Acromegaly (possibly wrongly diagnosed)

Misdiagnosis and Acromegaly

Pituitary conditions often undiagnosed cause of symptoms: There are a variety of symptoms that can be caused by a pituitary disorder (see symptoms of pituitary disorders). For example, fatigue, headache, weight gain, diabetes-like symptoms, and various other symptoms. Pituitary tumors and other similar conditions are not as rare as physicians tend to believe. See introduction to pituitary conditions....read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Acromegaly

Causes of Acromegaly

• Pituitary adenoma (type of Adenoma) - benign tumor, over 90% of patients
• Non-pituitary tumor - pancreas, lung, adrenal glands, chest, abdomen, or pelvis
• Pancreas tumor
• Lung tumor
• Adrenal gland tumor

Read more about causes of Acromegaly

More information about causes of Acromegaly:

• Underlying causes of Acromegaly
• Acromegaly as a complication caused by other conditions
• Acromegaly as a symptom
• Cause statistics for Acromegaly

Treatments for Acromegaly

• Surgical removal - of the underlying tumor
• Drug therapy
  • Bromocriptine (Parlodel®)
  • Octreotide (Sandostatin®)
  • Pituitary hormone therapy

See full list of 6 treatments for Acromegaly

Videos for Acromegaly

Patient Surveys for Acromegaly

• Patient Profile Survey
  Take Survey  View Results
• Survey about the symptoms of your Acromegaly
  Take Survey  View Results

Reseach about Acromegaly

Visit our research pages for current research about Acromegaly treatments.

Clinical Trials for Acromegaly

The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.

Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Acromegaly include:

• Sandostatin LAR Depot Vs. Surgery for Treating Acromegaly - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• The Treatment and Natural History of Acromegaly - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Study of the Effect of Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone Antagonist on Growth Hormone Release in Acromegaly - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Measurement of Outcome of Surgical Treatment in Patients With Acromegaly - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Safety and Efficacy of Octreotide Long Acting Release (LAR) in Treatment Nave Acromegalic Patients - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - Octreotide LAR

See full list of 28 Clinical Trials for Acromegaly

Statistics for Acromegaly

• Medical statistics for Acromegaly
• Prevalence and incidence statistics for Acromegaly
• Death and Mortality statistics for Acromegaly
• Society statistics for Acromegaly

Types of Acromegaly

• Pituitary-tumor-caused acromegaly
• Non-pituitary-tumor-caused acromegaly

Read more about Types of Acromegaly

Medical Guidebooks and Ebooks for Acromegaly

• Icon Health Sourcebook for Acromegaly

See all guides and ebooks for Acromegaly

Stories from Users Related to Acromegaly

• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Total embarassment.... Hormone prob?
• Hormone Shot really hurts
• The New World War...Xenoestrogen and your Hormones
• Can BC pills mess up ones hormones?
• sphenoid sinus and pituitary hypofunction
• symptoms, hormonal? - no diagnosis
• Strange Growths
• ???pituitary disorder, please help.
• muliple symptoms....hormones??
• Excess Mucus
• Excessive sleepiness
• Tsh Secreting Pituitary Tumor??
• Excessive mucus
• excess salivation in 3 year old
• symptoms, hormonal? - no diagnosis
• growth hormones causing strokes in males
• has anybody had biodentical hormone treatment for perimenopause
• Hormonal Imbalance
• Excess Saliva

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User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Acromegaly, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

• I can not get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for this?
• See all the forums.

Definitions of Acromegaly:

Disorder caused by excessive secretion of somatotropin, characterized by bony enlargement of face, hands, feet, head and thorax. - (Source - Diseases Database)

Enlargement of bones of hands and feet and face; often accompanied by headache and muscle pain and emotional disturbances; caused by overproduction of growth hormone by the anterior pituitary gland (due to a tumor) - (Source - WordNet 2.1)

Acromegaly is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This means that Acromegaly, or a subtype of Acromegaly, affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Source - National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Ophanet, a consortium of European partners, currently defines a condition rare when it affects 1 person per 2,000. They list Acromegaly as a "rare disease".
Source - Orphanet