The pituitary gland is the smallest gland in your body located at the base of your brain, behind your nose and between your ears. Pituitary glands secrets a hormone called pituitary hormone that influence almost all parts of your body.
Hypopituitarism is a rare condition in which your pituitary glands is either unable to produce one or more hormones or does not produce the hormones in insufficient amount. The deficiency of pituitary hormone in your body can affect many functions in your body like, growth, blood pressure and reproduction.
Hypopituitarism generally results due to the disorder in different parts of your body involving the pituitary glands, hypothalamus or its surrounding structures. Generally deficiency in one or more pituitary hormones results in isolated or partial hypopituitarism.
Physiology of Pituitary Gland
Pituitary gland comprises of 2 main parts:
- Anterior pituitary (adenohypophysis)
- Posterior pituitary (neurohypophysis)
The anterior pituitary region generally receives signals from the hypothalamus that either results in stimulation or inhibition of secretion of pituitary hormones. These hormones are directly secreted into the systemic circulation and acts on specific organs. The hormones that are secreted by anterior pituitary region include:
- Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) or thyrotropin
- Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) or Gonadotropins and luteinizing hormone (LH)
- Somatotrophin or growth hormone (GH)
- Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) or corticotropin
- Prolactin
The posterior pituitary region does not produce any hormone. The hypothalamus produces certain hormones that are released through the posterior region. The hormones that are released through posterior region include:
- Vasopressin (VP)
- Oxytocin (OXT)
Hypopituitarism Causes
There are many factors that affect the production of pituitary hormones in your body. The most common factor that affects the production includes:
- Chronic lung diseases like sarcoidosis
- Accumulation of iron in large amounts in your body can also result in hypopituitarism. Presence if iron in large amounts is a hereditary condition generally referred as hemochromatosis.
- Histiocytosis X is an autoimmune disorder in which your immune cells attack your organs.
- Stroke
- Tuberculosis
- Lymphocytic hypophysitis
- Sheehan syndrome
- Radiation treatment or radiotherapy
- Cancer
Hypopituitarism Symptoms
Symptoms of hypopituitarism mainly depend on the type of hormone that your pituitary glands are unable to produce or produce in less quantity. In case of insufficient amount of growth hormones production, it can affect the growth of your child and in few cases may result in short stature.
When there is a decline in FSH or LH, it may result in sexual function problems and irregular period and in few cases can also lead to infertility.
Diagnosis of Hypopituitarism
Hypopituitarism is generally diagnosed through blood tests. Your doctor will ask you to go for blood tests to check the hormonal levels in your body. In few cases specific tests will be done to check each hormone like T4 levels and T3. Low levels of T4 indicates that your pituitary glands are not functioning properly and releases less amount of hormones that are required for your normal functions of your body.
Hypopituitarism Treatment
Hypopituitarism cannot be cured with a single course of treatment as many hormones are involved and may affect with one or the other treatment. Endocrinologist generally prescribes certain medications that will help in maintaining the normal hormonal levels in your body.
Deficiency of hormones can lead to infertility. Consult your infertility specialists to cure hypopituitarism. There are infertility specialists available in different branches of hedge fertility centers like:
- Infertility Specialist in Hitech City
- Infertility Specialist in Dilsukhnagar
- Infertility Specialist in Madhapur
The infertility treatment cost in Hyderabad is reasonable. The treatment is done at competitive rates. Talk to your infertility specialist when you experience any symptoms related to hypopituitarism to avoid major health issues.
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