Acromegaly Research Paper
Skeletal Disorder Research Paper
Mamie Green & Felicia Williams
2/3/15
Anatomy and Physiology 3B
ACROMEGALY The name of the disease that we decided to research is Acromegaly. Pierre Marie is the person, who coined the term “Acromegaly” in 1886. However, Marine was not the first physician to give a full record of the clinical picture of Acromegaly. There are many others that has preceded him. The Dutch physician Johannes Weir was one of them. Acromegaly is a bone condition that deals with excess growth. Acromegaly is caused by a noncancerous tumor. Middle age adults are the most commonly affected by this disease. Symptoms may include enlargement of the face, hands and feet. Although, people may experience pain in the joints. There have been reported cases of physical deformity, abnormally large tongue, bulging chest, enlarged organs, vision disorders, among other things. Acromegaly is diagnosed by using blood test or imaging. For the blood test a doctor must measure the GH level of a person’s blood to determine if it is elevated. After the blood test a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the pituitary will be done. It’ll be used to locate and detect the size of the tumor causing GH overproduction. …show more content…
There is no cure for Acromegaly but there are treatments that may help.
Prompt treatment is needed to avoid serious illness. Drugs can reduce the effects of growth hormones. Surgery and radiation may be used, if needed, to remove tumor cells. Acromegaly is associated with a wide array of symptoms due to excess of hormones. Some symptoms include abnormal enlargement of hands and feet. When the hands enlarge then your rings will no longer fit on your finger. The best thing to do is to take your rings off the first time you notice the enlargement. Widening of fingers and toes, can also be considered as “paddle” toes, but you hands will feel like bread dough. The enlargement of feet requires you to get your shoes in a larger
size.
There will also be some changes in facial features. There will be enlargement in the forehead and jaw. There will be spacing between the teeth and enlarging in the tongue and enlargement of the nose and lips. Skin changes include an increasing number of skin tags and oily skin with excessive sweating. Due to increasing in the wrist this causes carpal tunnel syndrome leading to nerve compression. Other types of symptoms include sleep apnea, arthritis and headache. Serious conditions that are long-lasting include high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus and heart disease, including heart failure. Patients with acromegalic are at a high risk of developing tumors or lesions. Such as thyroid cancer that occurs at a higher frequency, talk to doctor about screening test.
Work Cited
• http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/endocrine/acromegaly/Pages/fact-sheet.aspx
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acromegaly
• http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/acromegaly/home/ovc-20177622
• http://pituitary.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=89
Mamie Green & Felicia Williams
2/3/15
Anatomy and Physiology 3B
ACROMEGALY The name of the disease that we decided to research is Acromegaly. Pierre Marie is the person, who coined the term “Acromegaly” in 1886. However, Marine was not the first physician to give a full record of the clinical picture of Acromegaly. There are many others that has preceded him. The Dutch physician Johannes Weir was one of them. Acromegaly is a bone condition that deals with excess growth. Acromegaly is caused by a noncancerous tumor. Middle age adults are the most commonly affected by this disease. Symptoms may include enlargement of the face, hands and feet. Although, people may experience pain in the joints. There have been reported cases of physical deformity, abnormally large tongue, bulging chest, enlarged organs, vision disorders, among other things. Acromegaly is diagnosed by using blood test or imaging. For the blood test a doctor must measure the GH level of a person’s blood to determine if it is elevated. After the blood test a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the pituitary will be done. It’ll be used to locate and detect the size of the tumor causing GH overproduction. …show more content…
There is no cure for Acromegaly but there are treatments that may help.
Prompt treatment is needed to avoid serious illness. Drugs can reduce the effects of growth hormones. Surgery and radiation may be used, if needed, to remove tumor cells. Acromegaly is associated with a wide array of symptoms due to excess of hormones. Some symptoms include abnormal enlargement of hands and feet. When the hands enlarge then your rings will no longer fit on your finger. The best thing to do is to take your rings off the first time you notice the enlargement. Widening of fingers and toes, can also be considered as “paddle” toes, but you hands will feel like bread dough. The enlargement of feet requires you to get your shoes in a larger
size.
There will also be some changes in facial features. There will be enlargement in the forehead and jaw. There will be spacing between the teeth and enlarging in the tongue and enlargement of the nose and lips. Skin changes include an increasing number of skin tags and oily skin with excessive sweating. Due to increasing in the wrist this causes carpal tunnel syndrome leading to nerve compression. Other types of symptoms include sleep apnea, arthritis and headache. Serious conditions that are long-lasting include high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus and heart disease, including heart failure. Patients with acromegalic are at a high risk of developing tumors or lesions. Such as thyroid cancer that occurs at a higher frequency, talk to doctor about screening test.
Work Cited
• http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/endocrine/acromegaly/Pages/fact-sheet.aspx
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acromegaly
• http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/acromegaly/home/ovc-20177622
• http://pituitary.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=89