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Acromegaly – Clinical Trials and Research Studies

Acromegaly is a rare disorder and occurs in only around three to four people in a million. Acromegaly can occur in males and females alike. There is no specification of any particular race of people being more susceptible to acromegaly.

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Clinical Trials and Research Studies on Acromegaly

New York (USA), June 21, 2013

Acromegaly: Clinical Trials and Research Studies

Acromegaly is a rare disorder and occurs in only around three to four people in a million. The normal age is between forty to forty-five years. Acromegaly can occur in males and females alike. There is no specification of any particular race of people being more susceptible to acromegaly. It causes abnormal production of growth hormone after skeleton and other organs have completed their growing processes. Such excess production of growth hormone in children causes gigantism.

However, mortality rate in people with acromegaly is twice that of normal people. If growth hormone concentration is higher than 10 ng/mL, mortality rate is double the normal and expected level. If growth hormone concentration is less than 5 ng/mL, mortality rate is almost normal. Early treatment can restrict mortality.

Pituitary gland in brain is responsible for secretion of various hormones, growth hormone being one of these. An adenoma in pituitary gland instigates it to secrete excess growth hormones leading to acromegaly. This is the predominant cause for acromegaly in more than ninety-five percent of cases. Sometimes malignant tumors stimulate growth hormone releasing hormone to increase production of growth hormone.

Acromegaly treatment is a difficult and expensive option. Side effects of medications and treatments are many. Research indicates that people with acromegaly are more prone to cardiovascular diseases than normal people of same age are. An early diagnosis goes a long way in curing acromegaly symptoms completely. Most acromegaly symptoms develop subtly over a long period. Often, diagnosing the symptoms is a difficult option and many of them overlap symptoms of other diseases like diabetes, heart ailments, and nervous disorders.

High levels of growth hormone and IGF-1 lead to increased muscle and soft tissue mass and increased size of organs like heart and kidney. This is responsible for back pain, joint pains, thick skin, carpal tunnel syndrome, sleep apnea, multinodular goiter, arrhythmias, and cardiac dysfunctions. These aggravated symptoms are also responsible for formation of multiple polyps, sometimes malignant, in your colon. However, there is no clear evidence of a relation between malignant polyps and acromegaly.

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