How are comorbidities diagnosed and treated in patients with acromegaly?

  Patients with acromegaly have elevated growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) in the blood, resulting in characteristic physical appearance, such as ugly face, enlarged nose, thickened lips, enlarged hands and feet, thickened skin, excessive sweating and sebaceous gland secretion. The disease is characterized by long head shape, protruding eyebrow arch, long oblique forehead, protruding lower jaw, sparse teeth and backbite, enlarged occipital ridge, posterior protrusion, forehead and scalp folds, barrel chest and hunchback.  In addition to the above characteristic appearance, the disease can also cause corresponding comorbidities, including enlargement of other soft tissues, bones and internal organs: 1) headache, vision loss and visual field defects caused by pituitary tumor compression and invasion of surrounding tissues; 2) involvement of cardiovascular system: hypertension, cardiac hypertrophy, enlargement of heart and large blood vessels, cardiac arrhythmia, heart valve disease, cardiac decompensation and even heart failure, atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, cerebral infarction, and heart failure. 3, reduced glucose tolerance and diabetes mellitus; 4, respiratory system involvement: tongue hypertrophy, low voice, ventilation disorders, wheezing, snoring and sleep apnea, sleep hypoxia, respiratory infections; 5, bone and joint involvement: synovial tissue and articular cartilage hyperplasia, hypertrophic osteoarthropathy, impaired hip and knee function; 6, female amenorrhea, lactation, infertility, male sexual dysfunction 7. increased incidence of colon polyps, colon cancer, thyroid cancer, lung cancer, etc.  Each patient with acromegaly may have the above complications. When you find facial changes, thickened fingers, increased shoe size in a short period of time, plus one or more comorbid manifestations, it may be an early sign of acromegaly, and you should consult a hospital as soon as possible and have all systems evaluated before surgery.