Acromegaly a condition of Growth Hormones

Acromegaly is a condition in which the body produces too much growth hormone that may lead to excess growth of body tissue over a long period of time.

The noticeable symptoms are that the hands and feet become larger while the features of the face may also tend to become more prominent, the cause of which is a small non cancerous tumor in the pituitary gland. Treatment may include surgery to remove the tumor and medicine to block the release or the effects of growth hormones.

Typical features of this ailment may include an enlarged tongue, abnormally tall height (if it happens before puberty), besides abnormally large hands, feet and large prominent facial features. This ailment can affect about 6 in every 100,000 adults though the problem is very rare in children.

Hormones released and produced by Pituitary Gland

The growth hormone is produced and released by the pituitary gland which is a pea sized gland below the brain and when hormone is released in the blood, it tends to stimulate the liver to produce another hormone, a insulin like growth factor 1 – IGF-1, which causes growth of muscle, cartilage and bones throughout the body and this process is essential for the growth and repair of body tissues.

This disease is caused by the excessive production of growth hormone when the skeleton and the organs stop growing and if it takes place before puberty, it may lead to an excessive tall height which is termed as gigantism. It is the outcome of a benign brain tumor known as adenoma which is rarely inherited and is usually developed spontaneously due to genetic change within a cell of the pituitary gland.

This genetic change may tend to switch on a signal which conveys to cells in the pituitary gland to divide and secrete growth hormone. The tumor may grow to a size of 1 cm and compress the surrounding normal pituitary tissue which may also affect the production of other hormones like the thyroid hormones that are released from the thyroid gland.

Symptoms may not be specific

The person suffering from Acromegaly may experience joint aches, carpal tunnel syndrome (compression of the nerve in the wrist, which may cause numbness as well as weakness of the hands), skin tags, thick coarse oily skin, enlarged lips and nose, protruding tongue and brows, widely spaced teeth, impaired vision, headaches, fatigue and weakness, excessive sweating with body odor, deepening of the voice due to enlarged sinuses and vocal cords and sleep apnoea or breaks in breathing during sleep due to obstruction of the airways.

The obstruction of vision and headache could be due to the tumor compressing near the tissues and if this occurs, the tumor may be squashing the nearby nerves which may take place at any age developing slowly which may often go unnoticed till the person reaches middle age. Moreover the symptoms are also not very specific and hence the condition may also tend to be diagnosed much later after the symptom takes place.

A blood test can measure the level of growth hormone though a single test may not be reliable and a glucose tolerance test may be conducted where the person is made to drink a sugar drink containing 75 grams of glucose with a series of blood test over two hours. A MRI scan may also be conducted to know the size of the tumor besides eye and visual test to assess if the tumor is pressing on the optic nerve.