Pituitary Gland: Facts, Function & Disease

We often get used that when speaking or hearing about glands or endocrinology to  think about the thyroid gland. For many of us, the phrase 'you have problems with the gland' automatically means problems with the thyroid gland and we think it might be the most important endocrine gland.

Physiology tells us something else. That is, the 'conductor' of the entire endocrine system is a small gland that most of us ignore: pituitary gland.

Pituitary Gland: Facts

The pituitary gland is located at the base of the brain and consists of neurochipophysis and adenophobia. Hormones synthesized by adenophobia are:

l  growth hormone (somatotropic)

l  prolactin

l  melanocyte

l  adrenocorticotropic

l  follicle stimulating

l  luteinizing

Neurohyphophytis stores and releases vasopressin and oxytocin. Without hormones synthesized by the pituitary gland, other glands such as the thyroid, adrenal glands, ovaries, or testicles can not develop and can not function normally.

Pituitary Gland: Functions

These gland's hormones has a trophic role on thyroid and is involved in the synthesis of thyroid hormones, being indispensable for thyroid secretion.

Luteinizing and follicle stimulating hormones are also called gonadotropos and have a role in regulating the menstrual period in women and spermatogenesis in men. Their abnormal secretion leads to infertility.

Adrenocorticotropic hormone is adrenocorticotropic trophic, with adaptive metabolic effects. Hypersecretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone leads to Cushing's disease, which has obesity, hyperglycemia, and hypertension as its symptoms.

Prolactin together with estrogen and adrenal steroids are essential hormones for the normal development of the mammary gland. It is absolutely necessary for lactogenesis (milk production). Its excess secretion leads to galactorea, amenorrhea (lack of menstrual cycle), infertility, hirsutism (excessive hair growth with a male appearance).

Growth hormone has an essential role in normal development, especially of skeleton and soft tissues.

It also intervenes in regulating general metabolism. Its absence in the child and teens leads to pituitary nanism - the child does not increase in height, but has a normal intellect.

Its excess leads to acromegaly or gigantism, which is the sharp increase in skeleton and viscera.

Its secrecy is influenced by physical exercise, sleep, blood glucose, diet, and some medications.

The question that naturally comes to mind from these succinct data about the roles played by hormones secreted by the pituitary gland is that if there are treatments in the cases of disorders. Yes, there are some treatments. There are treatments that can help people with pituitary disorders to live a normal life.

Pituitary Gland: Diseases

Children

In the case of children diagnosed with pituitary nanism, in time, proper treatment helps them develop harmoniously and lead a normal life.

Therefore, it is important that parents consult their pediatrician and endocrinologist when their baby does not have a similar stature to his or her colleagues.

We should never ignore the child's changes in development compared to other children of the same age, especially in cases where the birth was difficult or the child has suffered brain injury.

Adults

In the case of adults, the signs of pituitary hormone deficiencies or excesses occur slowly. Fortunately, pituitary pathology is usually benign.

Constantly, we ignore early warning signs that our body does not work normally. We do not take into account the sudden drops in weight, the pains and feelings of discomfort, the state of depression without reason, the changes in the skin structure, the size of the hands and feet, the changes in the voice.

Many times we blame aging when, in fact, they are sometimes the first signs of serious illnesses.

If you experience symptoms or signs that are worrying or persist for long time, do not hesitate to consult your endocrinologist specialist.

Pathology by hormone categories can be described as follows below.

Gigantism, acromegaly or pituitary nanism

All these three diseases represent an increase (in the case of the first two) or a decrease of growth hormone secretion – GHS.

Gigantism means a uniform but too strong development of the human body and internal organs, but because there may be a possibility that one of the viscera can not maintain this increase in the total increase, as well as the fact that there may be metabolic deficiencies, the hearts of people suffering from severe gigantism often stops working until maturity.

The most famous case of gigantism was a person who has reached 2.42 meters at the age of 18, but who died immediately after that age.

Acromegaly is the abnormal development of the extremities in particular, the upper and lower limbs, and especially of the hands and feet, which can exceed the growth of the rest of the body, so it is not a harmonious growth.

In the case of a lower secretion the same hormone (GHS) we will speak of a pituitary nanism, which means a person who does not develop enough both in height and as a total size,. These people present in the long run less complications or less serious complications than the first two pituitary gland disease.

Excess prolactin

Can be secreted excessively as a result of antihistaminic treatments or more often antipsychotic or contraceptive medications while the hypo-secretion may be due to certain cephalosporin antibiotics.

Abnormal prolactin secretion may be implicated as an adjacent factor in certain mammary tumors.

Vasopressin Secretion

Insipid diabetes is caused by a pituitary pathology, and in this case the vasopressin synthesis and secretion is the one in cause.

Insipid diabetes can be both congenital and in this case we are talking about primary insipid diabetes, but it can also be obtained after a resection surgery at this level, may be post-traumatism (trauma to the pituitary gland localization), but maybe occurring as a result of a meningeal infection or a sarcoidosis-type pathology.

In this case, vasopressin which is acting on the kidneys and which controls an adequate water level will no longer be able to achieve this role, ultimately leading to the pathology called Insipid Diabetes.

LH and FSH

LH and FSH increase may be due to hydrocortisone, spironolactone, and the decrease in secretion of these hormones is most often due to hypothalamus.

Another cause may be due to medical-induced pathology, namely during fertility therapy or more specifically in the case of egg donation.

In this medical procedure, it is trying to stop the menstrual cycle, and then a hypersecretion of these hormones to produce eggs as reliable and as large as possible, so if this procedure is not done with the utmost caution, more harmful complications may occur that may lead to pituitary disorders of this hormonal secretion.

An insufficient secretion of these hormones will lead to fertility problems, namely the endocrine infertility category.

TSH

An alteration of TSH can occur through a feedback mechanism in case of a thyroid pathology and more precisely in hyperthyroidism, namely excessive secretion of thyroid hormones which by negative feed-back will inhibit TSH hormone secretion by the pituitary gland.