Pituitary disease explained

A pituitary disease is a disorder primarily affecting the pituitary gland.^[1] __TOC__

Table

The main disorders involving the pituitary gland are:

Condition	Direction	Hormone	-		overproduction	growth hormone
Gigantism	overproduction	growth hormone
	overproduction		-		underproduction		-		overproduction		-	Diabetes insipidus (can also be nephrogenic)	underproduction		-		underproduction		-		underproduction	any pituitary hormone, except prolactin, which is increased	-	Hyperpituitarism (most commonly pituitary adenoma)	overproduction	any pituitary hormone	-		underproduction	any pituitary hormone

Overproduction or underproduction of a pituitary hormone will affect the respective end-organ. For example, insufficient production (hyposecretion) of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in the pituitary gland will cause hypothyroidism, while overproduction (hypersecretion) of TSH will cause hyperthyroidism. Thyroidisms caused by the pituitary gland are less common though, accounting for less than 10% of all hypothyroidism cases and much less than 1% of hyperthyroidism cases.^{[2] [3]}

See also

• Hypophysitis, inflammation of the pituitary gland.
• Autoimmune hypophysitis (or lymphocytic hypophysitis), inflammation of the pituitary gland due to autoimmunity.
• Nelson's syndrome, may occur after surgical removal of both adrenal glands, an out-dated method of treating Cushing's disease.
• Pituitary tumour, a tumor of the pituitary gland.
• Pituitary adenoma, a noncancerous tumor of the pituitary gland.
• Pituicytoma, a rare brain tumor.
• Pituitary apoplexy, bleeding into or impaired blood supply of the pituitary gland.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Overview of the Pituitary Gland: Pituitary Gland Disorders: Merck Manual Home Health Handbook . 2009-04-04.
2. https://books.google.com/books?id=lB6oVJ50oL4C&pg=PA358 Page 358
3. http://www.uptodate.com/contents/thyrotropin-tsh-secreting-pituitary-adenomas Thyrotropin (TSH)-secreting pituitary adenomas.