Monday, April 27, 2009

Pituitary Cushing's Surgery Twittered

From http://herdingzebras.blogspot.com/

 

Thanks to Jessie at http://preciselyjessica.blogspot.com/ for compiling this and putting it in criminological order rather than upside down!

 

Erin Kelley's pituitary surgery was coverd by Kay Quinn from Channel 5 News in St. Louis. Here is the "play-by-play" of it, for those who couldn't see it live.

Good morning from the second floor, West pavilion at Barnes-Jewish Hospital!

I'm in the IMRI, room 217, and Erin is on the operating table. Everything looks great!

I'm going to spend the next few hours sending Twitter messages from the O.R., reporting on Erin Kelley's neurosurgery.

As we get started, let me say that out of respect for Erin and her family, should something unplanned occur, I will stop my Tweets.

Erin has Cushing's disease, which is an endocrine disorder that means her body produces too much cortisol.

These high cortisol levels in the blood can cause a host of unpleasant symptoms, from weight gain to excessive sweating to fertility trouble

Erin's Cushing's disease has been traced to a tiny tumor on her pituitary gland. She's having that tumor removed this morning.

The hope is, the removal of the tumor will reduce or eliminate her symptoms
Erin's been mostly troubled by the excessive weight gain.

She also gets sick a lot and is tired too much of the time.

Here's what I'm seeing now: Erin's draped on table, and until just a few seconds ago, her face was exposed.

She has fiducials all over her face. They allow doctors to use an MRI to get a 3-D GPS of her brain.

These little markers allow surgeons to locate her tumor exactly. The tumor is so small, it can't be seen on regular imaging.

Erin's face is covered now. Only her nose exposed. Surgeons will go in through her right nostril, through the spenoid sinus to pituitary.

Using an endoscope, they'll travel through this "tunnel" in the nose and sinus, right to the left side of her pituitary.

That's the side making too much cortisol. The tumor us called a microadenoma.

Sorry...sphenoid is correct spelling of the sinus. I'll have to brush up on my medical terminology. Sorry for the other typos.

Surgeons are now starting to insert the endoscope through the nose to access the pituitary. This process should take 30 mins.

All is well in the OR. The room is dark now. Surgeons are tracking their progress on monitors.

I just spoke with Dr. Ralph Dacey, the neurosurgeon who will remove the tumor. He says all is going well.

He also told me, what makes this operation so different from others of its kind is the MRI machine that is located right in the room.

There are only 7 or 8 hospitals in the country with this kind of MRI capability.

The advantage is that surgeons can ensure they've removed all they need in one operation.

Without this intraoperative MRI, Erin might have had to come back for a second operation if there was any tumor left behind.

Dr. Richard Chole is the otolaryngologist working on acessing the pituitary right now. Still dark in the OR.

Dr. Jim Johnston is the chief resident helping coach me through this. He says it's dark so surgeons can see the monitors better.

It helps him place the endoscope, as they make their way back to the sinus.

No music in the OR. Dr. Dacey says he doesn't like to listen to much music as he works. OK, sometimes he does.

He says the residents usually hook up and i-pod and force him to listen to U2....

Sorry again for the typos.

Dr. Dacey says not a lot of drama in the OR. Nurses and support staff are very professional. Not like TV show ER.

Dr. Dacey tells me the whole operation should take three-and-a-half hours.

Going through the nose is a new approach. Surgeons used to go up under the lip. Dacey says this technique means less post-op pain/scars

Pituitary Gland Fact: 1 to 3% of adult population has a pituitary tumor. Very common. Most have no symptoms

Dr. Chole is in the sphenoid sinus now, getting closer to pituitary.

He just took out a piece of bone in the rostrum, which is the outer shell of the sphenoid.

Pituitary Gland Fact: While tumors in the pituitary are common, only a very small number of people will develop Cushing's disease.

Amazing images on the monitor in the OR: we can see images being sent back by the small camera in Erin's sinus.

We can see Dr. Chole removing tissue as he goes deeper into the sinus.

I look very attractive in my scrubs and surgical bonnet.

I'll send a photo later. Cell phones don't work in here.

For the squeamish: This is not bloody at all. Very clean looking

I've got a Newschannel Five photographer by my side today. Joe Young is the best in the business. He's been at 5 for 25 years.

We'll shoot the operation and my Tweets and show the story sometime in May.

I'm making this sound easy, but Dr. Chole has to be very precise as he tunnels his way to the pituitary

The carotid arteries run along either side of his "tunnel," so he can't veer off course at all.

We've reached the bone that separates the sinus from the pituitary. Soon, Dr. Dacey will cut a window in that bone to get to the pituitary.

All is well, all is going as planned.

Big thanks to Dr. Jim Johnston. He's my John Madden...providing important medical background.

Barnes-Jewish, thanks for making this possible. This is an incredible opportunity

@kayquinn The tweets are great! Why the formal story delay until May? Are you waiting to add Erin's input post surgery?

I'll turn it into a longer story. Our Cover Stories are three or more minutes, so I'll get extra time to put it together

Surgeons never actually reach the brain, but they're very close. The pituitary is right behind the sinus at the base of the brain

Dr. Chole has done his work. Now Dr. Dacey will take over. First up, he'll make the window in the bone that's between sinus and pituitary

Then, he'll be able to go into the gland itself

Just to recap if you've just logged on: I'm reporting via Twitter from a Barnes-Jewish Hospital OR

Erin Kelley is having a tumor removed from her pituitary gland, a small gland behind the nasal sinus, at the base of the brain

She's hoping the operation will control or eliminate symptoms of her Cushing's disease

Temperature is very cool in here

Dr. Dacey is now working at the base of the skull. Very vascular area. Seeing a little more blood, which is normal

Just got an update from Dr. Chole, the otolaryngologist. He says Erin's tissue is more fragile because of her disease

They're going slower than normal because of this. The tissue bleeds more easily, so they're moving cautiously

Dr. Dacey is operating now. He's through the bone and didn't have to drill to get through. This is good. Less traumatic for Erin

Dr. Dacey is at the dura, the covering of the brain that also encompasses the pituitary. He'll go through that now to gland

Cushing's is named after Harvey Cushing, the father of modern neurosugeron. He did basic research on role of pituitary, how to treat it

@kayquinn Wow, the detail on the surgery is amazing. Are you in some kind of sterilized area to do the tweets??

@ahawkcollinger I'm not in a sterile area. I'm in a control room with a window into the OR

@ahawkcollinger But I do have scrubs and a surgical bonnet on! Adorable blue color

Hello to Erin's family on the 10th floor. Dr. Chole just came by to tell me where you are. All is well! Hope to catch up with you later

Dr. Dacey is putting a needle into the area where the pituitary is now to make sure it's the gland he's reached and not a blood vessel

Dr. D about to make an incision in the dura to get to the gland

Joe Young took the camera back in the OR to get more shots of the operation. He's also been shooting me in the observation room on Twitter

llama_3234I wonder what it would be like to be family of @erinmariekelley and watching the tweets of @kayquinn - nervous or relieving?

@llama_3234 Good question! Apparently, they can read our Tweets, but the hospital's system has blocked them from sending messages out. (I would find that tragic!)


Dr. Chole says they're anxious to send messages out but can't.

Dr. D has opened up the dura and is trying to visualize the pituitary gland

Apparently the gland is an orange-brownish colored gland, shaped like a Hershey's kiss. Very firm. (dr. j's description. love it!)

Dr. D is using a blunt instrument to feel around the pituitary now for any unusual tissue

The hope is that by taking the left side of the pituitary, disease symptoms will go away. Remaining right side should function normally

Dr. Dacey says he's in the pituitary and can see a milk nodule on the left hand side that he's removed and sent off to pathology

Now, he's going to remove the left portion of the gland

This is great news! Dr. D got what he was looking for!

Now waiting for lab to call back with a preliminary report on what that nodule was. Takes five days for the full report on it tho

There has been some bleeding, but Dr. Jim tells me its completely normal. Dr. D's been working around it all, which has taken some time

Not planning to do intraoperative MRI because her pre-op scans were normal

28 year old Erin Kelley, mother and wife, is having the left part of her pituitary removed to alleviate symptoms of her Cushing's

She had a tumor or nodule on it. The neurosurgeon just removed it and sent it to the lab

All happening on a second-floor operating room at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St.Louis

Dr. Jim tells me the pituitary sits in a "web of veins" and that's why there can be bleeding during surgery

It's very normal. Also, because of all of the excess cortisol in Erin's blood stream, those veins have become very fragile

A lot of the left side of the gland is out now

Dr. D now looking at the bone fragments Dr. Chole took out. Looking at closing the "window" or hole already!

Left side of the gland completely out. Peeled it off. Tofu-like substance

Now, surgeons will take a little fat pad from the abdomen to also use to seal the hole

Dr. D placing gel foam used to minimize bleeding. This is all part of the process of finishing the operation

I'll be away from the computer for several minutes. Going to grab a quick interview. I'll be back to wrap it all up. Awesome experience!

Erin's surgery is complete! She'll leave any moment for the recovery room

Thanks to all who made this possible: Erin, BJ Hospital, KSDK. It was an incredible experience!

Funny to see all the lights on in the OR. It was dark for 99% of the operation

I'll keep you posted on when you can watch the story on Newschannel 5!

@kayquinn A lot of us "Cushies" are out of area. Will the story be online?

@cushings It will be on-line the day it airs. I'll let you know!

I added some of the questions that were asked as well.

Enjoy,

Jessica

Follow Erin's pituitary Cushing's surgery Live! http://ping.fm/OWQ3S

Thursday, April 23, 2009

4/27. 9am EST. Cushing's pituitary surgery to be updated on Twitter by www.twitter.com/kayquinn

Update on Pituitary Surgery to be Twittered

The surgery is scheduled to be Monday, April 27 starting around 9AM Central time.

Ok here is the "skinny" (get my humor haha) on the health reporter Kay Quinn -- Twittering of my Surgery by Channel Five (the St. Louis KSDK affiliate). It is MY understanding that she will be doing a play by play through the whole thing -- beginning around 9am -- but you all know how surgery times go. Central Time.


You can follow the actual real-time twittering by going to www.twitter.com/kayquinn

It would be great if you could actually sign up to Twitter and follow it so that she knows that individuals are paying attention smile.gif


They were just at my office with a camera and did a GREAT interview! I do not know when the story itself will air. I will update you guys when I know...... I did mention this website and she wrote it down!!! So hopefully they will air that!
Here is Channel Fives info:
http://www.ksdk.com/

Cushing's Newsletter, April 23, 2009

In This Issue

Welcome to the latest Cushing's Newsletter!

Cushie Bloggers

Upcoming Interviews

Upcoming Meetings

Podcasts

Cushing's on Facebook and Twitter

Media - Rare Care for a Rare Disease

Want to Volunteer?

Robin writes: Diagnosing and Treating Cushing's: Presentations by Dr. Theodore C. (Ted) Friedman

Clinical Trial: Women With Pituitary Problems Wanted For A Testosterone Study

Clinical Trials in Cushing’s Disease

Help Keep The Cushing's Sites Going

Endo News: Dr Ted Friedman: What is Pseudo-Cushing's ?

Endo News: Dr Ted Friedman: Why Diagnosis is Less Important in Endocrinology in the 21st Century

Endo News: How many people are aware that April 8th is National Cushings Awareness Day???

Endo News: Kanzius left hope

Endo News: MASEP gamma knife radiosurgery for secretory pituitary adenomas: experience in 347 consecutive cases

Endo News: Surgical Versus Conservative Management for Subclinical Cushing Syndrome in Adrenal Incidentalomas: A Prospective Randomized Study

Endo News: Merits and pitfalls of mifepristone in Cushing's syndrome

 

New and Updated Bios
Bios submitted after April 18 have not yet been formatted for the web.

Add or Update your bio here

Names in parens are user names on the message boards

Latest Cushing's Help Newsletter: March 12, 2009

New Bio April 18, 2009
Anne (kittiefoster)
is from San Lorenzo, California. She is not yet been diagnosed but has had multiple symptoms of Cushing's for years. She will see an endocrinologist on May 15

New Bio April 10, 2009
Debi (debkelly)
is from Palmdale, California. She is not yet diagnosed but has a lot of symptoms.

New Bio April 6, 2009
Betty (bettyd)
is from Cedar Hill, Missouri. Her daughter has been in the diagnostic process of Cushings for several months. It was also suggested that she might have "cyclic" Cushings.

New Bio April 6, 2009
Yol
is from Toronto, Canada. Her 12 year old daughter is going through Cushing's testing.

Updated Bio April 5, 2009
Beth (EFM1062)
is from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. She is not yet diagnosed with Cushing's but she has many symptoms and is testing. She has been diagnosed with Hashimoto's hypothyroid. Beth updated her bio April 5, 2009.

New Bio April 1, 2009
Sandra (sandra b.)
is from Hammond, Louisiana. She had Cushing's in 2002 and is still affected by high cortisol levels. She had surgery to remove an adreno cortical carcinoma..

New Bio March 30, 2009
Tami (TamiinGA)
is from Calhoun, Georgia. In May of 2008 she was diagnosed with 2 tumors on her left adrenal gland. She is on her 4th endo who just recently diganosed her with Cushing's.

New Bio March 26, 2009
Lisa Lee
is from Swansea, Wales, UK. She was brought up a boy because of a rare medical condition called ‘congenital adrenal hyperplasia’ (CAH).

New Bio March 26, 2009
Jada (Jada71)
is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She has been diagnosed with pituitary Cushing's and has been to see Dr Ludlam. A local endo told her: "You don't have Cushing's Disease, you have psuedo- Cushing's caused by insulin resistance." Jada asked how he knew this and he replied, "Because it's too rare and too hard to diagnose."

New Bio March 25, 2009
Leslie
is from Chislehurst, Kent, United Kingdom. She was diagnosed with an adrenal tumour 15 months ago, then eventually diagnosed with Cushings and the adrenal gland and tumour were removed in July 2008. The other adrenal gland was found to be not functioning and she now hydrocortisone dependant and classified with secondary addisons. She suffers from various Cushing's problems.

Updated Bio March 24
Elisabeth (eals)
is from Nanaimo, Canada. She updated her bio after pituitary surgery with Dr. Akagami at Vancouver Regional General Hospital on March 3, 2009

New Bio March 20, 2009
Jennifer (JWOLF74)
is from Connecticut. She was diagnosed with PCOS about 10 years ago and had gastric bypass surgery 7 years ago. She is currently testing high and has been referred to a new endo.

New Bio March 16, 2009
Christina (happygirl)
is from West Point, UT. She was diagnosed March 2009 with a pituitary source of her Cushing's Disease.

New Bio March 14, 2009
cris (cris)
is from Michigan. She has finally been diagnosed with pituitary Cushing's after more than 20 years of trying to find out what's wrong. She has also been diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis; Unstable Hypothyroidism;Hyperparathyroidism; Hypocalcemia; Severe D (hormone) deficiency; Adult GH Deficiency and Pituitary Tumor in MRI 2009.

New Bio March 12, 2009
Xchicagoan (xchicagoan
) is from Huntersville, North Carolina. She is not yet diagnosed with Cushing's but has many symptoms including Adrenal Hyperplasia and thyroid issues.

New Bio March 11, 2009
Maryanne
is from Sidney, BC, Canada (Vancouver Island). She has tumors on each adrenal gland and an MRI showed a 2 mm pituitary tumor. She is taking Ketoconazole until surgery

New Bio March 9, 2009
Jen (AuntieNoWay
) is from Seattle, WA. All it took was one blood test and she was diagnosed. I had a tumor on her left adrenal gland that was causing her left adrenal gland to over produce the hormone cortisol. She was diagnosed but they waited 2 months to get her in for surgery and during that time her weight jumped dramatically from 180Lbs to 239Lbs and she was sicker than ever.

 

New and Updated Bios

Upcoming Pituitary Surgery...

...to be Twittered/tweeted/whatever that would be.

 

This is so cool!  A member of the message boards at http://cushings.invisionzone.com/index.php writes:

A news crew is going to be at my surgery!, Health reporter will be twittering the whole thing

I just got a call from the PR department at the hospital where I am having the surgery...

Channel 5 here in St. Louis will be doing a cover story on the whole process and the health reporter will be twittering the whole thing too. Crazy!! I will let you know more when I know!

 

Updates on this when more are posted.  Her pituitary surgery will be April 27, 2009

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Finally!

I'm finally, at this moment, caught up on the bios.  I'm sure that there is someone writing another one right now, though LOL

Where did all these Cushies and potential Cushies come from?  This is supposed to be a rare disease.

It's good that the word is getting out, though.  Thankfully, people don't have to suffer with this alone anymore.

Between the jobs that have to be done on this site - and there are lots of invisible ones that members never see! , temporarily watching a friend's message boards, my "real" job, trying to have a life... I am more exhausted than I can remember being for a long time.

Housework is a thing of the far-distant past.

A few weeks ago I went to a handbell festival.  I took a bit of adrafinil on the main day to try to stay awake for the whole day.  It didn't seem to keep me as on as it did before.  I can't be used to it already.  Maybe I'm just that much more tired than I was just a few months ago.

I guess I'm a bit introspective today, too.  It's the first anniversary of Natalie's death.  Last month was the anniversary of Sue's death.

It's just not right that this disease has been known for so many years, yet doctors still drag their feet diagnosing it and curing Cushing's.

Why is it that we have to suffer so much, so long, and still there are so many deaths from Cushing's or related to Cushing's symptoms?

I know far too many people, good people, who suffered for many years from this disease that doctors said they didn't have.  Then they died.  It's time this stopped!

Speaking of death - what a cheery blog post this is turning out to be.  NOT!

I had been following the blog posts of a young woman who had "my" cancer".  She recently died.  I never knew her but she sounded like such a wonderful person who truly lived while she had the chance.

I wish I could be more like that and have a real life while I'm still here.  My life seems to be reduced to doing for others. 

 

When is it my turn?

NCCN Updates Kidney Cancer Guidelines to Incorporate FDA Approval of Everolimus

From http://sev.prnewswire.com/health-care-hospitals/20090420/DC0141020042009-1.html

NCCN has added everolimus (Afinitor(R), Novartis) to the NCCN Guidelines for Kidney Cancer as a recommended treatment for patients with renal cell carcinoma whose disease has progressed after treatment with kinase inhibitors. This recommendation comes on the heels of the March 30, 2009 FDA approval of everolimus based upon results of a clinical trial which showed that the therapy significantly extended progression-free survival in a specific group of patients.

FORT WASHINGTON, Pa., April 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has updated the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology(TM) for Kidney Cancer to reflect the recent FDA approval of everolimus (Afinitor(R), Novartis) for advanced renal cell carcinoma in patients whose disease has progressed after treatment with kinase inhibitors such as sunitinib (Sutent(R), Pfizer Inc.) and sorafenib (Nexavar(R), Bayer HealthCare).

The FDA approval is based on recent results of a clinical trial which showed that the growth or spread of tumors was delayed in patients who were being treated with everolimus and that the treatment improved median progression-free survival to 4.9 months compared to 1.9 months in patients who did not receive the treatment.

Based on this trial data, the NCCN Guidelines Panel for Kidney Cancer has added everolimus as a category 1 option for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma following failure of tyrosine kinase therapy.

Everolimus targets a protein known as mTOR, which affects tumor cell division, angiogenesis, and cell metabolism. The mTOR pathway integrates signals from nutrients and growth factors and is considered to be a major regulator of cell growth and angiogenesis. By inhibiting the mTOR pathway, everolimus has the potential to block renal cell cancer growth.

Renal cell carcinoma comprises about two percent of all cancer diagnoses; however the rate has steadily increased by two percent per year for the past 65 years, with the reason for the increase being unknown. Researchers do know that smoking and obesity are among the risk factors for renal cell carcinoma development and that several hereditary types of the disease exist.

NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology(TM) are developed and updated through an evidence-based process with explicit review of the scientific evidence integrated with expert judgment by multidisciplinary panels of physicians from NCCN Member Institutions. The most recent version of this and all the NCCN Guidelines are available free of charge at NCCN.org.

About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), a not-for-profit alliance of 21 of the world's leading cancer centers, is dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of care provided to patients with cancer. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. As the arbiter of high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers. The primary goal of all NCCN initiatives is to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of oncology practice so patients can live better lives.

The NCCN Member Institutions are: City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA; Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center | Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA; Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, Durham, NC; Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA; Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle, WA; The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY; H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Tampa, FL; The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Columbus, OH; Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY; Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; St. Jude Children's Research Hospital/University of Tennessee Cancer Institute, Memphis, TN; Stanford Comprehensive Cancer Center, Stanford, CA; University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, Birmingham, AL; UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA; University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI; UNMC Eppley Cancer Center at The Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE; The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN.

For more information on NCCN, please visit NCCN.org.

Website: http://www.nccn.org/

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Ask Dr. Gott: Persistent patient gets treatment

From http://www.montereyherald.com/health/ci_12177391?nclick_check=1

Peter Gott

Updated: 04/19/2009 01:42:53 AM PDT

Dear Dr. Gott: You have responded to several letters about the pituitary and adrenal glands, and I thought I should write to share my story. I am 75 years old, but this started when I was in my late teens. I started to have health problems but never gave them much thought.

Every doctor I saw gave me a diet sheet, treated my blood pressure and told me to lose weight. They didn't seem to care about the other symptoms and didn't understand I couldn't lose weight. Later, another doctor ordered tests. He told me that my adrenal glands were putting out too much hormone. The level should have been 17, but mine was 37. He gave me the diagnosis of Cushing's disease.

I became a research patient at The University of California Hospital in San Francisco. I had my adrenal glands removed in 1964. I was told I didn't have Cushing's anymore because the glands were gone, but now I had Addison's disease.

I now take two pills to replace hormones my adrenal glands produced. I have to be careful to limit my stress, but I am happy to be alive. I was told that if I went untreated, I would have only lived five years at most.

My primary reason for writing is to share my story and tell everyone not to be afraid to be a guinea pig. It was hard, but it was worth it. I have my life back.

Dear Reader: Cushing's disease, now known as Cushing's syndrome, is a condition in which the body is exposed to too much cortisol. This can occur because of abnormalities of the adrenal or pituitary glands, tumors that release the hormone adrenocorticotropin, and more.

Symptoms include high blood pressure, upper-body obesity, severe muscle weakness and fatigue, easy bruising, backaches and high blood sugar. In women, it may be accompanied by excess facial and body-hair growth and irregular and absent menstrual periods.

Treatment depends on the cause. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, not much was known about the disorder. You were lucky to have been diagnosed. Your surgery to remove the adrenal glands saved your life but made you rely on medication to do what your body is unable to do. Today, removing adrenal glands is a last resort used for persistent cases or those that are the result of tumors.

Addison's disease is the result of too little cortisol. Like its antithesis, it can be caused by abnormalities of the adrenal or pituitary glands, certain disorders, chronic infection, cancer and removal of the adrenal glands.

Symptoms include chronic and worsening fatigue, weight loss, muscle weakness, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure and more.

Treatment is replacing or substituting the hormones that are not being produced.

In both conditions, if there is an underlying cause, it must be treated. Both require monitoring by an endocrinologist.

To provide related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report "Medical Specialists." Other readers who would like a copy should send a self-addressed stamped envelope and a check or money order for $2 to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.

Write to Dr. Gott c/o United Media, 200 Madison Ave., 4th fl., New York, N.Y. 10016.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Pituitary Blog Alerts, April 17, 2009

MaryO'Note: Since these are blogs, I have no idea how accurate any of this info may be...

 

Can A person that has had Pituitary surgery to remove A tumor get ...
By admin
3 Responses to “Can A person that has had Pituitary surgery to remove A tumor get pregnant?” NY_PiscesMom_2009 says: April 17, 2009 at 11:21 am. With the help of a competent fertility specialist there should be no problem getting ...
Cure Tumor & Cancer - http://andridaulay.com/rs/

 

Is Bingeing Ruining Your Metabolism?
By mleclerc
The Hypothalamus controls the pituitary gland which controls the thyroid. This control is all driven by the first hypothalamus’ glands production of TRH (thyroid releasing hormone and that affects the pituitary gland with produces TSH ...
The Synergytraining Blog - http://www.synergytraining.ca/

 

Jerly Lyngdoh, Worlds Oldest Baby discovered in India
By Paul Short
Lyngdoh has a rare pituitary condition known as pan-hypo pituitarism, which causes limited secretion of growth hormones from the pituitary gland. His condition is the opposite of progeria, or advanced ageing. [Image Credit: Metro] ...
The Inquisitr - http://www.inquisitr.com/

 

Why you should order a Thyroid test « digi-phil blog
By Phil
Excess TSH is released by the pituitary gland and thyroid levels of TSH rise. A Thyroid test determines hyperthyroidism which is a condition of too much blood thyroid hormone and the hypothalamus mandates the pituitary to cease ...
digi-phil blog - http://www.digi-phil.com/

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Cushing's Awareness Day Alerts

Just Another Day in Paradise: National Cushing's Awareness Day - 2009
By Christina
April 8th is National Cushing's Awareness Day. I am copying Melissa's blog for today. She had all the information I wanted to share, so I figured why do the work when she already did it all so well? I hope she doesn't mind, and, ...
Just Another Day in Paradise - http://christinapay.blogspot.com/

 

Cushie Blogger
By MaryO
Diagnosing and Treating Cushing's: Presentations by Dr. Theodore C. (Ted) Friedman - Thanks, Robin! She posted this in her blog survive the journey survive the journey: Diagnosing and Treating *Cushing's* *. ...
Cushie Blogger - http://cushie-blogger.blogspot.com/

 

O'Connor O'Riginals
By MaryO
O'Connor O'Riginals. 2:59 PM. Filed under: National Cushing's Syndrome Awareness Day http://ping.fm/l4myc. 0 comments: Post a Comment · Older Post Home. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom). © 2008 O'Connor O'Riginals.
O'Connor O'Riginals - http://oconnororiginals.blogspot.com/

 

Cushing's Moxie: Melissa's Battle with Cushing's Disease: April ...
By Cushie Melissa
The endocrine disorder named after him is obviously Cushing's Syndrome or Disease. Cushing's Syndrome is the state of prolonged exposure to corticosteroids resulting from either excessive cortisol production or steroid medication. ...
Cushing's Moxie: Melissa's Battle... - http://cushingsmoxie.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

http://ping.fm/ZmHZk Where we had lunch today. She was on Bobby Flay's Throwdown and she beat him! Yummy Pad Thai!
National Cushing's Syndrome Awareness Day http://ping.fm/l4myc
Happy Cushing's Awareness Day!