Common Causes And Risk Factors Of Acromegaly

Other Tumors

While most cases of acromegaly are caused by an adenoma in the pituitary gland, some rare cases are the result of a tumor that develops in another tissue. These other tumors may develop in a different part of the brain, pancreas, and lungs. Excess amounts of growth hormone can occur if these other tumors produce growth hormone directly, or when they produce a different hormone referred to as growth hormone-releasing hormone that tells the pituitary gland to produce more growth hormone. Individuals affected by a non-pituitary tumor that makes growth hormone-releasing hormone may have an enlarged pituitary gland that is visible on imaging tests because the gland is working in overdrive. The enlargement of the pituitary gland and the various possible origination points of a tumor that secretes growth hormone-releasing hormone can make it challenging for physicians to identify this tumor as the problem. However, once the growth hormone-releasing tumor is located and surgically removed, the acromegaly symptoms should subside.

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Middle Age

Middle-aged individuals are at a higher risk of developing acromegaly than those in other age groups. The most specific reason for the existence of this risk factor is that any form of increased growth hormone production in the body that occurs in an individual who is seventeen years old or younger is referred to as a different disease called gigantism. It is called gigantism because an excess amount of growth hormone in the body of an individual in this age group has different effects than it does on the body of an individual who is fully grown and developed. The average age of a male when they are diagnosed with acromegaly is forty years old. The average age of females who are diagnosed with acromegaly is forty-five old. There is a long delay in the time between when subtle symptoms manifest and when an individual gets diagnosed with acromegaly. On average, symptoms are present in a patient for a minimum of between four and fifteen years at the time of diagnosis. The mean amount of time between when symptoms start and when an individual is diagnosed with acromegaly is 8.7 years. The risk factor of being a middle-aged adult should be considered in context because only three to four new cases of acromegaly per every one million individuals are diagnosed annually.

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