The Pituitary Gland And Dwarfism :: essays research papers

The Pituitary Gland and nanismThe Pituitary Gland is situated at the base of the brain and it producesendocrine glands which reign growth. Too large an amount of these hormones causesgiantism, a specification where facial features, hands, etc. become abnormally large.Too little causes dwarfism, where the overall stature of a person is very small.Dwarfism is the condition of being undersized, or little than 127 cm (50in) in height. Some dwarfs have been less than 64 cm (24 in) in height whenfully grown. The word midget is usually employ to dwarfs. A nonher growthdisorder disease is Cretinism which is a result of a disease of the thyroidgland it is the cause of most dwarfism in Europe, Canada, and the United States.Other causes of dwarfism are Downs syndrome, a congenital condition withsymptoms similar to those of cretinism, achondroplasia, a disease characterizedby short extremities resulting from absorption of rubberlike tissue duringthe fetal stage, spinal tuberculosis, and inadequacy of the secretions of thepituitary gland or of the ovary.Causes of pituitary dwarfism may vary. Abnormally short height inchildhood may be due to the pituitary gland not functioning correctly, resultingin underproduction of growth hormone. This may result from a tumor in thepituitary gland, absence of the pituitary gland, or trauma.Growth awkwardness may become evident in infancy and persists throughoutchildhood. standard puberty may or may not occur depending on the degree ofpituitary insufficiency that is present, which is the inability of the pituitaryto produce qualified hormone levels other than growth hormone.Physical defects of the face and skull may too be associated withabnormalities of the pituitary gland. A small percentage of infants with cleft backtalk and cleft palate may have decreased growth hormone levels.No ideal treatment has been developed yet for pituitary dwarfism. alternate therapy with growth hormone is indicated for children who havedocumente d growth hormone deficiency. If the deficiency is an isolated growthhormone deficiency only growth hormone is given. If the deficiency is notisolated other hormone replacement preparations lead be required.There are a few complications of pituitary dwarfism.