Go orange to highlight pituitary conditions

OCTOBER IS Pituitary Awareness Month. But do you know what your pituitary gland does? Or even where it is? Your pituitary gland is about the size of a pea and is in a bony hollow, just behind the bridge of your nose. It is attached to the base of your brain by a thin stalk. The hypothalamus, which controls the pituitary by sending messages, is immediately above the pituitary gland. The pituitary controls several other hormone glands in your body, including the thyroid, adrenals, ovaries and testicles.

WHAT CAN GO WRONG?

As many as one in five people have harmless growths on their pituitary gland. The most common problems occur when a benign tumour develops. Symptoms of this can include weight gain, fatigue, poor concentration, vision problems, loss of libido, infertility, joint ache, sweating, depression and headaches. Since these are such everyday symptoms, many people go for years without a diagnosis.

Pituitary tumours are not “brain tumours”. Some can exist for years (even a lifetime) without symptoms. Most pituitary tumours occur in people with no family history of such problems; they are not usually hereditary.

By far the most common type of tumour is the “non-functioning” type. This does not produce any hormones itself. It can cause headaches and visual problems or it can press on the pituitary gland, stopping it from producing the required amount of one or more pituitary hormones, or generating too much of one or more hormones.

The most common pituitary conditions include acromegaly (growth problems), Cushing’s and diabetes insipidus (kidney malfunctions), hypogonadism (male fertility problem), hypopituitarism (symptoms including temperature sensitivity, weight gain, headaches, vision issues) and prolactinoma (among other things, affecting menstruation, breast milk production and libido).

If you think you might be affected, ask your GP to consider the relevant tests. WILL I NEED AN OPERATION? For a benign tumour of the pituitary, surgery is often the best course of action and is usually straightforward. It is carried out via the nostril, without disturbing the main part of your brain.

The operation will usually require about five days in hospital and around four to eight weeks off work.

Sometimes pituitary tumours need other approaches, for example radiotherapy. This does not mean you have cancer.

Most people with a pituitary condition need drugs, either on their own or in addition to surgery and/or radiotherapy, to reduce the levels of a hormone your pituitary is overproducing, or to replace a hormone being under produced.

Most people with a pituitary tumour and/or condition will have regular check-ups at a specialist endocrine clinic for the rest of their life. Regrowth of a pituitary tumour can occasionally occur.

Since many pituitary tumours are diagnosed through routine eye tests, the more opticians are aware of tumours, the more likely patients are to receive an early diagnosis. That is why the awareness month is targeting thousands of opticians to highlight the common health symptoms which might be signs of a pituitary condition.

You can help raise awareness of pituitary conditions, donate or get more information at pituitary.org.uk/ fundraising/go-orange Donations helpline: 0117 370 1333