Understanding Hypopituitarism –Symptoms and Causes

by Rahul Singh Content Writer

Introduction

Hypopituitarism is a condition of the pituitary gland in which it is underactive. The front lobe of the gland may partly work or may not work at all when affected with hypopituitarism. This leads to production of lesser hormones than are required or none at all. This deficiency of hormones causes a number of negative effects on the body’s routine functions, such as growth, blood pressure and reproduction. Most likely a person needs medications for the rest of their lives to control the symptoms of hypopituitarism.

Symptoms

Symptoms of hypopituitarism tend to be different for each person, and take place either gradually or right away. Symptoms are usually subtle and as a result are overlooked many a times. Symptoms are caused by lack of certain hormones. Here are the details:

Lack of gonadotropins (luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone): This affects women who haven’t gone through menopause, and may lead to loss of menstrual cycle, or to infertility, vaginal dryness, and loss of female traits. Affected men may have impotence, shrivelling of testes, less sperm than normal, erectile dysfunction, and loss of male traits.
Lack of growth hormone: Affected adults may lose bone mass and muscle growth, in children it can lead to stunted growth and dwarfism.
Lack of thyroid stimulating hormone: This leads to an underactive thyroid, and leads to confusion, cold intolerance, weight gain, constipation, and dry skin.
Lack of adrenocorticotropin hormone: A rare deficiency, which leads to an underactive adrenal gland. Affected individual may have low blood pressure, low blood sugar, tiredness, and get stressed easily.
Lack of prolactin: This can cause women to not be able to produce breast milk after childbirth.

These symptoms may look like other medical conditions, so it is advised to consult a neurology doctor if you experience any of them. Hypopituitarism is usually treated by an endocrinologist or a neurologist. You can find leading endocrinologists in multi-facility hospitals in Gurgaon and Delhi NCR, as well as in hospitals in Patna, and one such hospital in Darbhanga in Bihar.

Causes

Causes of hypopituitarism either are affecting the pituitary gland directly, or indirectly affecting it due to changes in hypothalamus. Direct causes include:

Pituitary tumours, which are almost always benign (non-cancerous) brain tumours.
Poor blood supply to the pituitary gland
Infections or inflammatory diseases
Sarcoidosis, which is a rare inflammation of the lymph nodes and other tissues throughout the body
Amyloidosis, which is a rare disease which causes a build-up of protein and starch or amyloid in tissues and organs
Radiation therapy
Surgery to remove pituitary tissue
Autoimmune diseases
Head trauma
Genetic diseases

The indirect causes include:

Tumours of the hypothalamus, which are brain tumours and more likely cancerous or malignant
Head injuries
Surgical damage to the hypothalamus or blood vessels or nerves leading up to it