What are the general hazards of pituitary tumors

Many people are not familiar with pituitary tumors, or even hear about them for the first time. However, the appearance of this unknown benign tumor has brought great harm to patients, so we cannot ignore its existence and must treat it squarely. Now let's talk about the general harms of pituitary tumors.

1. Psychological pressure. Pituitary tumors can occur at any age, but they are more common in young and middle-aged people. Pituitary tumors can cause serious damage to human growth, development, physical and mental health, fertility, and multiple organ functions. In particular, they can cause infertility, sexual dysfunction, and ugly appearance to young men and women, which can cause tremendous pressure on patients.

2. Pituitary tumors can change the patient's face and body shape. Growth hormone-type pituitary adenomas cause excessive growth of limbs, muscles and internal organs due to excessive secretion of growth hormone. In puberty, it manifests as gigantism before the epiphyses fuse, while in adults it manifests as enlarged hands and feet, a wide head and face, high cheekbones, enlarged nose, thickened lips, loose, coarse and dark skin, increased hair, hoarseness, snoring during sleep, and sleep apnea syndrome. Due to abnormal metabolism and distribution of fat, adrenocorticotropic hormone-type pituitary adenomas accumulate fat in the chest, abdomen, and buttocks, while the limbs are relatively thin and small, showing "centripetal obesity", a full moon-shaped face, a significant increase in weight, and exposed subcutaneous blood vessels in the limbs with purple lines.

3. Damage to structures surrounding the tumor: As the tumor grows, it invades and compresses important surrounding structures, such as the optic nerve, cavernous sinus, basilar cerebral artery, hypothalamus, brain stem, etc., leading to corresponding functional disorders. Patients with pituitary tumors experience symptoms such as decreased vision, visual field defects, hemiplegia, fixed eyeballs, diplopia, intellectual and memory disorders, mental changes, headaches, hydrocephalus, etc.

4. Impaired immune function: Patients with pituitary tumors are prone to colds and infections. Their low resistance makes it difficult to treat diseases, which also makes them susceptible to cancer.

Pituitary tumors are harmful to the patient's physical and mental health. Once discovered, they must be treated early so that the patient can recover soon.