What is the relationship between pituitary tumors and sex

       Different types of pituitary tumors have different symptoms. In general, patients with pituitary tumors have the following three manifestations: 1. Symptoms caused by tumor compression of nerves: headache, loss of vision and reduced visual field. In case of acute bleeding in pituitary tumor (pituitary tumor stroke), it can cause severe headache, nausea, vomiting, and even sudden loss of vision and other symptoms.  2.Symptoms caused by tumor pressing normal pituitary tissue: After pituitary tumor grows to a certain extent, it will hinder the function of normal tissues in pituitary gland, leading to pituitary insufficiency or hypoplasia.  3.Symptoms caused by excessive secretion of hormones: According to the different secretion of hormones, different clinical manifestations may appear. One is prolactin-type pituitary tumor, which is the most common, accounting for about 39%, and the age of onset is mostly 30 to 40 years old. The main manifestations are irregular menstruation or even amenorrhea, and overflow of milk (milk production). The most common symptoms in male patients are erectile dysfunction, loss of libido, enlarged breast tissue and infertility. Secondly, growth hormone pituitary tumors, which mainly manifest as gigantism or acromegaly, facial changes, enlarged hands and feet (increased shoe size), and in the later stages of the disease, arthritis, heart failure, diabetes, hypertension and vision and visual field changes due to optic nerve compression may occur. This disease, if not treated aggressively, can lead to premature death as the disease continues to worsen. Third, adrenocorticotropic pituitary tumor: the main manifestations are obesity, full-moon face, hairiness, purple lines (purplish skin lines on the body), osteoporosis, muscle weakness, etc., often combined with hypertension and hyperglycemia.  Pituitary tumors are prone to “sex” The clinical manifestations caused by pituitary tumors can be complex. Among them, the most susceptible are pituitary cells related to sex hormone secretion. Most female patients with pituitary tumors experience menstrual disorders, amenorrhea or infertility. Male patients, on the other hand, mainly present with hypogonadism. In clinical practice, many female patients with pituitary tumors visit the clinic for menstrual disorders and use progesterone to regulate menstruation or take Chinese herbal medicine for a long time, thus delaying their condition. In contrast, male patients with pituitary tumors do not have reliable indications of disease such as “menstruation” and do not pay attention to their sexual function or gradual loss of libido, so they often do not actively seek medical consultation and are more likely to delay the diagnosis.  Therefore, women with unexplained menstrual disorders or amenorrhea and men with unexplained low sexual function should be vigilant. If there are typical symptoms of pituitary tumor as mentioned above, please consult an endocrinologist as soon as possible and undergo the necessary biochemical tests and pituitary MRI scan to make a definite diagnosis.