Please consider joining us for #Pituitary Tumor Support Group on Saturday October 7th, 2023 at 9am to discuss Current and Emerging Medical Therapies in Pituitary Tumor Treatment by Dr. Mahalakshi Honasage, #Endocrinologist, and Dr. Jack Rock, #Neurosurgery.
Virtual and In-Person participation is available.
RSVP to 313-916-1094
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The most common procedure to remove pituitary tumors is transsphenoidal adenomectomy. It allows the removal of the tumor with minimal damage to the surrounding structures. The surgical team accesses the pituitary gland through the sphenoid sinus — a hollow space behind the nasal passages and below the pituitary gland.
If performed in specialized centers and by an experienced pituitary surgeon, this type of surgery is reported to result in an overall cure rate, or full remission, of Cushing’s disease for 80% to 90% of patients. A higher success rate is seen with smaller tumors.
However, reported remission rates vary considerably, mainly due to differences in the criteria used to define disease remission.
In some cases, a second transsphenoidal adenomectomy is required to fully remove tumor tissue; in others, the initial surgical procedure is paired with a second form of treatment, such as radiation therapy or certain medications.
Given the complexity of the procedure, the guidelines recommend patients undergo surgery in specialized Pituitary Tumor Centers of Excellence. Patients also are advised to have the surgery performed by an experienced pituitary neurosurgeon.
Follow-up for all patients should be conducted by a multidisciplinary team, including a pituitary endocrinologist.
Lifelong monitoring for disease recurrence is required.
It’s unbelievable but the idea for Cushing’s Help and Support arrived 23 years ago late last night. I was talking with my dear friend Alice, who ran a wonderful menopause site called Power Surge, wondering why there weren’t many support groups online (OR off!) for Cushing’s and I wondered if I could start one myself and we decided that I could.
Thanks to a now-defunct Microsoft program called FrontPage, the first one-page “website” (http://www.cushings-help.com) first went “live” July 21, 2000 and the message boards September 30, 2000.
All our Cushing’s-related sites:
YOU’RE INVITED! GoodHormoneHealth Webinar on Oh-Oh-Oh-Ozempic
Dr. Theodore Friedman (The Wiz) will giving a webinar on Ozempic and other new weight loss medicines.
Topics to be discussed include:
Sunday • Jul 9, 2023 • 6 PM PDT
Via Zoom Click here to join the meeting or
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
OR
+16699006833,,4209687343#,,,,*
OR
Join on Facebook Live – https://www.facebook.
Slides will be available on the day of the talk here.
There will be plenty of time for questions using the chat button.
For more information, email us at mail@goodhormonehealth.com
YOU’RE INVITED! GoodHormoneHealth Webinar on Lifestyle Medicine for Patients with Endocrine Problems With Eddie Ramirez, MDDr. Theodore Friedman (The Wiz) will be joined by Eddie Ramirez, MD
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“We invite you to join us for our opening 12 Days of Cortisol Christmas event, “Overcoming Fatophobia” with Dr. Karen Thames.
Dr. Karen, a licensed clinical psychologist and founder of the EPIC Foundation, has battled Cushing’s disease and is now adrenal insufficient as a result. She has faced the battle of weight stigma both professionally and personally. In this interview, she bravely shares her story and advice on how to overcome #fatphobia in #chronicillness.
Adrenal Alternative’s 12 days of Cortisol Christmas is an event where we give back to the adrenal community during the Holiday Season.
Throughout the 12 days, we will be giving away adrenal awareness merch, hosting interviews with patients and professionals, and sharing helpful resources.
Even though patients must fight the war that is #adrenalinsufficiency, we want to let you know that you are supported by an army of adrenal warriors and you are not alone.”
~Adrenal Alternatives Foundation
A prolactin (PRL) test measures how much of a hormone called prolactin you have in your blood. The hormone is made in your pituitary gland, which is located just below your brain.
When women are pregnant or have just given birth, their prolactin levels increase so they can make breast milk. But it’s possible to have high prolactin levels if you’re not pregnant, and even if you’re a man.
Your doctor may order a prolactin test when you report having the following symptoms:
For women
For men
For both
Normally, men and nonpregnant women have just small traces of prolactin in their blood. When you have high levels, this could be caused by:
Also, kidney disease, liver failure, and polycystic ovarian syndrome (a hormone imbalance that affects ovaries) all can affect the body’s ability to remove prolactin.
You don’t need to make any special preparations for a prolactin test. You will get a blood sample taken at a lab or a hospital. A lab worker will insert a needle into a vein in your arm to take out a small amount of blood.
Some people feel just a little sting. Others might feel moderate pain and see slight bruising afterwards.
After a few days, you’ll get the results of your prolactin test in the form of a number.
The normal range for prolactin in your blood are:
If your value falls outside the normal range, this doesn’t automatically mean you have a problem. Sometimes the levels can be higher if you’ve eaten or were under a lot of stress when you got your blood test.
Also, what’s considered a normal range may be different depending on which lab your doctor uses.
You’ll lie inside a magnetic tube as the MRI device uses radio waves to put together a detailed image of your brain. It will show whether there’s a mass near your pituitary gland and, if so, how big it is.
If your prolactin levels are below the normal range, this could mean your pituitary gland isn’t working at full steam. That’s known as hypopituitarism. Lower levels of prolactin usually do not need medical treatment.
Certain drugs can cause low levels of prolactin. They include:
Not all cases of high prolactin levels need to be treated.
Your treatment will depend on the diagnosis. If it turns out to be a small prolactinoma or a cause can’t be found, your doctor may recommend no treatment at all.
In some cases, your doctor may prescribe medicine to lower prolactin levels. If you have a prolactinoma, the goal is to use medicine to reduce the size of the tumor and lower the amount of prolactin.
| Condition or disease | Intervention/treatment | Phase |
|---|---|---|
| Cushing’s Syndrome ICushing Disease Due to Increased ACTH Secretion Cortisol ExcessCortisol; Hypersecretion Cortisol Overproduction Ectopic ACTH Secretion | Drug: SPI-62 Drug: Placebo | Phase 2 |
| Study Type : | Interventional (Clinical Trial) |
| Estimated Enrollment : | 26 participants |
| Allocation: | Randomized |
| Intervention Model: | Crossover Assignment |
| Intervention Model Description: | Staggered parallel crossover |
| Masking: | Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor) |
| Primary Purpose: | Treatment |
| Official Title: | SPI-62 as a Treatment for Adrenocorticotropic Hormone-dependent Cushing’s Syndrome |
| Actual Study Start Date : | March 1, 2022 |
| Estimated Primary Completion Date : | March 15, 2023 |
| Estimated Study Completion Date : | August 15, 2023 |
More info at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT05307328
Patients with suspected adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) may also undergo additional tests to identify excess sex steroids and steroid precursors, mineralocorticoids and glucocorticoids.
Table 2 provides a summary of the tests recommended by the European Society of Endocrinology in collaboration with the European Network for the Study of Adrenal Tumors in patients with suspected ACC.10
