The pituitary gland can have various disorders, including enlargement and hypopituitarism, which can cause deficiencies in growth hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone, corticotropin, prolactin, and gonadotropins. These disorders can lead to a range of health problems and symptoms, such as stunted growth, infertility, and underactive thyroid or adrenal gland.
Enlargement of the pituitary gland and hypopituitarism are the “broad” types of pituitary gland disorders into which the more specific disorders fall. These specific disorders include, but are not limited to, a deficiency of the following: growth hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone, corticotropin, or prolactin. A deficiency of gonadotropins, which are follicle stimulating hormones and luteinizing hormones, is also considered among the various disorders of the pituitary gland.
The pituitary gland can malfunction in a variety of ways due to the development of a benign tumor called an adenoma, the presence of a disease such as tuberculosis or sarcodosis, and bleeding into the gland itself. Any of these conditions can easily lead to gland enlargement or hypopituitarism, which is the medical term for an underactive pituitary gland. Hypopituitarism causes a deficiency of one or more pituitary hormones, which in turn causes a variety of health problems that present with a variety of signs and symptoms. Panhypopituitarism, which is the underproduction of multiple hormones at once, is actually more common than hypopituitarism.
It can therefore be said that the different types of disorders of the pituitary gland, broadly speaking, are enlargement and hypopituitarism. Growth hormone deficiency causes stunted growth in all parts of the body where growth occurs, leading to dwarfism if it occurs in childhood. In adult victims, thinning of the bones, reduced muscle tissue and excess fat are observed. A gonadotropin deficiency can cause menstrual cessation and infertility in premenopausal women. It can lead to decreased sperm production in males and Kallmann syndrome in males and females; Kallmann syndrome is a condition that can cause color blindness, decreased sense of smell, and cleft lip and palate.
Prolactin deficiency interferes with a woman’s ability to produce breast milk after giving birth. This is one of the pituitary gland disorders that has no known effects in males. Thyroid-stimulating hormone deficiency causes an underactive thyroid, but it is still considered one of the known disorders of the pituitary gland when it comes to a case caused by low levels of pituitary hormones. Corticotropin deficiency can be fatal because it causes an underactive adrenal gland, called Addison’s disease; low blood pressure; fatigue; and low blood sugar levels.
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