Growth Hormone Excess: Causes, Symptoms, and What You Need to Know
When your body makes too much growth hormone excess, a condition where the pituitary gland releases more growth hormone than the body needs. Also known as acromegaly, it doesn’t just make you taller—it changes your bones, organs, and metabolism over time. Most cases come from a benign tumor in the pituitary gland, but even small ones can cause big problems if left untreated.
This isn’t about being tall or muscular. It’s about acromegaly, a chronic condition where excess growth hormone leads to abnormal tissue growth—thickened skin, enlarged jaw, spaced-out teeth, and swollen hands and feet. People often don’t notice the changes at first because they happen slowly. By the time someone realizes their rings don’t fit or their hat size changed, the condition has been growing for years. High levels of IGF-1, a protein that mediates the effects of growth hormone and is used to diagnose and monitor excess are a key clue doctors look for. Without testing, many people live with this for decades, thinking it’s just aging.
Growth hormone excess doesn’t just affect appearance. It raises your risk for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and sleep apnea. It can cause joint pain so severe it limits movement, and even vision problems if the tumor presses on nerves. Treatment isn’t one-size-fits-all—it might mean surgery to remove the tumor, medication to block hormone production, or radiation if other options fail. The goal isn’t just to shrink the tumor, but to bring IGF-1 levels back to normal and stop further damage.
The posts here cover real-world cases and practical insights. You’ll find guides on how hormonal imbalances like this are diagnosed, what medications actually work to control them, and how patients manage life after treatment. Some posts dig into how pituitary tumors are detected with imaging, while others explain why certain drugs are chosen over others. There’s no fluff—just clear, direct information from people who’ve been through it.
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Acromegaly Self‑Care: Essential Tips for Better Management
Learn why self‑care is vital for acromegaly patients and get practical daily tips-nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress, and monitoring-to improve health and quality of life.
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