Acromegaly is a rare disease that can have serious consequences, mainly due to excessive growth hormone (GH) production by pituitary adenomas, which in turn leads to the production of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), resulting in excessive disproportionate growth of the body (e.g., hypertrophy of the extremities and internal organs, including the heart, liver, and kidneys). Excess GH and IGF-1 are also associated with abnormal cardiac function, respiratory depression, and various other symptoms. Acromegaly is a chronic disease with progressively worsening signs and symptoms that can lead to serious complications and even death if left untreated. Recent evidence suggests that the actual prevalence of acromegaly may be much higher than commonly estimated, a conclusion based on data from studies in the United States and Europe in the 1990s. These studies showed an incidence of 40-60 per million adults with acromegaly and 3-4 new cases per million per year.2-5 In the United States, the incidence is 40/1 million to 600/1 million and there are 3/1 million to 4/1 million new cases per year. There is no accurate epidemiological survey data in China. The Peking Union Medical College Hospital has counted the number of cases of acromegaly in each year from 1999 to 2001, accounting for 6/1 million to 18/1 million of the total number of cases in that year, respectively. A Belgian study published in 2006 showed a high incidence of pituitary adenomas in the province of Liège, and thus the incidence of acromegaly may exceed 100 cases per million people6. A German study published in 2008 showed an even higher incidence of acromegaly, reaching more than 1000 cases per million, and a consecutive screening of almost 7000 patients for elevated IGF-1 levels showed no difference in the incidence between men and women. Acromegaly has an insidious onset, with an average age of diagnosis of 40 years. Because of the slow onset of physical changes, less than one in five patients has been reported to present with physical changes. Despite its slow progression, acromegaly is associated with a large number of physical and psychological disorders and a high mortality rate. Due to the insidious onset of acromegaly, the low awareness rate of most patients, and economic constraints, the consultation rate of acromegaly patients in China is currently low, and the lack of timely consultation is a prominent problem. Among the patients with acromegaly who have been seen, some of them still do not receive the reasonable and systematic treatment they expect. Physicians from endocrinology, neurosurgery, radiation oncology and imaging often work separately, lacking interdisciplinary cooperation and collaboration. Thus, there is an urgent need to standardize the diagnosis and treatment of acromegaly in China, and to properly guide doctors from various disciplines to work together so that patients with acromegaly in China can receive standardized, rational and systematic diagnosis and treatment. Patients with acromegaly are at a greatly increased risk of premature death. Compared to the healthy population, the age- and gender-corrected mortality rate is significantly higher in acromegaly, and there is a direct correlation between serum concentrations of GH and IGF-1 and high mortality risk. The primary treatment goals for patients with acromegaly are to improve symptoms and comorbidities and to reduce mortality to age- and sex-adjusted normal levels. Important goals of treatment are to reduce tumor tissue and/or stabilize tumor growth while preserving pituitary function and to achieve effective control of GH and IGF-1 biochemical markers. Current treatment modalities for acromegaly include surgery, medications, and gamma knife therapy. Guidelines cite surgery as the treatment of choice for patients with acromegaly, and surgery is the traditional first-line treatment, although most patients are not completely cured by surgery. The recent development of transsphenoidal pituitary resection (TSS) has resulted in a success rate of 40% to 70% for biochemical compliance (normal GH, IGF-1), with an additional 30C60 % of patients still requiring pharmacological treatment after surgery. With the advent of technology and the creation of long-acting growth inhibitor analogs, some patients still have difficulty achieving optimal disease control, although advanced surgical instrumentation and imaging navigation systems have greatly aided surgical outcomes. When patients have small tumors and low preoperative GH levels, neurosurgeons with extensive experience can achieve the desired outcome through surgery. In conclusion, acromegaly is insidious in its onset and serious in its consequences; we often see people who have not seen each other for a long time with large changes in their faces, especially with longer faces or wider teeth or larger shoe sizes, so please be alert to acromegaly if you or your family and friends around you have the above symptoms.