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Acromegaly: The Growth Disease

Summary & Participants

Being tall is a physical trait that's often valued in our society, whether it's on fashion runways or basketball courts. But for people with acromegaly, excessive growth is a symptom of a serious condition.

Medically Reviewed On: June 30, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: Being tall is a physical trait that's often valued in our society, whether it's on the fashion runway or basketball court. But for people with acromegaly, excessive growth is one symptom of a serious disease.

ANNE KLIBANSKI, MD: Acromegaly can best be defined as a syndrome where there is excess secretion of growth hormone from the pituitary gland. When growth hormone is secreted in excess, it stimulates the liver to make IGF1, or insulin-like growth factor 1, and this is a substance, then, that acts on the body to stimulate a lot of the glands and a lot of the organs and a lot of the biologic systems in the body that will be affected by too much growth hormone.

ANNOUNCER: In most cases, the excess hormone production is caused by a small non-cancerous tumor in the pituatary gland, which regulates a number of bodily functions.

RENA SELLIN, MD: There are a number of different types of cells in the pituitary, and they interact with other endocrine glands in the body to regulate growth development, reproduction, metabolism, salt and water balance, so they are what we call in endocrinology a "master switch."

ANNOUNCER: In acromegaly, the tumor in the pituatary interferes with the master switch, causing symptoms like the one that gives the disease its name.

RENA SELLIN, MD: It actually derives from the Greek; "acro" means extremities, and "megaly" means big. So the individuals who have acromegaly have large hands, a tall stature.

ANNE KLIBANSKI, MD: It's not at all unusual for hands and feet to grow during normal development or to change a bit with weight gain. In acromegaly, however, you have dramatic enlargements of the hands and the feet, such that the hands become very thickened, and the feet become very thickened as well. Patients sometimes don't experience a change in foot length, but they will experience a change in the width of the foot.

The changes in soft tissue growth or bone growth can also affect other parts of the body, so patients may notice that their jaw becomes bigger, and in fact their teeth may become more widely spaced. Their foreheads may become more prominent, and also, their nose and lips may become broader.

Acromegaly can also lead to high blood pressure, and glucose intolerance, and even frank diabetes.

ANNOUNCER: Acromegaly can be treated when it's caught early, but because many of its symptoms seem unrelated, it often goes undetected.

RENA SELLIN, MD: Some of the early changes somebody might notice is change in their ring size, change in their shoe size. Usually after the age of 18 or 19 our shoe size stays the same, and certainly high school ring, graduation ring, or a wedding ring don't change over time. So if they become too tight, that's one of the early signs.

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