Cushings Syndrome - Medtick
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Cushings Syndrome

What is it?

When adrenal glands located just above the kidneys produce high levels of cortisol.

Cortisol functions:

  • Hormone that gives feeling of ‘fight/aggression feeling’ and control stress.
  • It helps in  high blood pressure and heart to work properly.
  • Control blood sugar levels (glucose in the blood to avoid diabetes).
  • Control food to turn to energy (metabolism).
  • Control salt and water in the body by retaining salt in blood and removing potassium in the kidney, this is important to avoid low blood pressure.
  • It makes our immune system (our defence system) weaker.

Diagnosis Tests

Medscape

Cause

  • Tumour in the pituitary gland in the brain
  • Multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) type 1
  • Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms
  • Tumour in one of the adrenal glands above the kidneys
  • Tumour elsewhere in body causes a release of hormone that stimulates the adrenal gland i.e. hyperparathyroidism
  • Family history (rare)
  • Carney complex
  • Lung cancer
  • Precocious puberty (early stage puberty) – appearance of secondary sexual characteristics before the age of 8 years in girls and 9 years in boys. Secondary sexual characteristics include breast and/or pubic hair development in girls, and testicular enlargement and/or pubic hair development in boys. Other signs that may accompany pubertal onset include vaginal discharge or bleeding (oestrogen effects), acne, voice deepening (androgen effects), growth acceleration, and advanced skeletal maturation (both oestrogen and androgen effects).
    • Central precocious puberty is gonadotropin-dependent and occurs as a result of early activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis i.e. for girls symptoms include: breast development and vaginal discharge or bleeding and for boys breast development and testicular enlargement.
    • Peripheral precocious puberty (precocious pseudopuberty) – gonadotropin-independent and occurs because of excess production of sex hormones from the gonads, the adrenal glands, or ectopic or exogenous sources i.e. symptoms include: Girls with contra-sexual peripheral precocious puberty exhibit signs of virilization (pubic or axillary hair development, acne, clitoromegaly) due to androgen hormone excess (as in this patient), whereas boys with contra-sexual peripheral precocious puberty show signs of feminisation (gynecomastia) due to oestrogen hormone excess.
      • Causes include:
      • Ovarian cysts or ovarian tumours (both of which typically secrete oestrogen)
      • Rare forms of ovarian tumours, such as gonadoblastomas, secrete androgen (females) androgen-secreting adrenal tumours and/or congenital adrenal hyperplasia (male and female).

Syndromes

Medication

Symptoms

  • Swollen lymph glands and/or reoccurring mouth ulcers?
  • Sudden weight gain or bloatedness around the chest and stomach and face which is red?
  • Fat/lumps at back of neck and shoulders (buffalo humps)?
  • Skin that bruises easily?
  • Rash?
  • Reddish purple stretch marks of thigh, stomach, buttock, arms, legs, breast?
  • Spots on face and shoulders?
  • Dark skin on neck (Acanthosis nigricans)?
  • High blood pressure, swollen ankles, water retention under the skin and in the legs?
  • Excess body and facial hair?
  • Cuts, bruises or scratches which take long to heal?
  • General discomfort (muscle weakness), uneasiness or ill feeling (malaise) and/or fatigue (tiredness), Weakness in muscles in hips, shoulders and legs?
  • Brittle bone (Osteoporosis)?
  • Joint stiffness and pain?
  • Irritated, depressed, anxiety and/or panic attacks?
  • Loose sexual drive and or impotent (other people possess high sex drive)?
  • Headaches?
  • High blood glucose levels?
  • Increase thirst, heavy sweating and need to urinate frequently?

Male only:

Female only:

  • Irregular periods, less frequent or absent?
  • Baldness?

Nail changes:

Complications /Information to beware of/General tips:

This condition can lead to:

Test results

This condition may show similar symptoms to:

Please talk to your healthcare professional (i.e. Medical Doctor/Pharmacist) for further advice

Detailed Information

Please copy and paste any key words from the title: Cushings Syndrome in the following respective 'Medtick References and/or Sources' to find out more about the disease (this also may include diagnosis tests and generic medical treatments).

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