1. What is a pituitary tumour?
A pituitary adenoma is a tumour that grows in the pituitary gland and is most commonly seen in the anterior pituitary gland.
2. Is the incidence of pituitary tumours high?
Pituitary tumour is one of the common intracranial tumours in adults, most of which are benign. The actual fact is that you can find a lot of people who are not able to get a lot of money from the internet.
3. What are the symptoms of pituitary tumours?
According to the type of hormone secreted, pituitary tumours can be divided into: (1) Prolactin-secreting type: 80%-85% of pituitary tumours, 5 times more common in women than in men. Irregular menstruation, amenorrhoea and breast overflow, infertility in women: in adolescent or married women, the menstrual cycle becomes longer or even amenorrhoeic, the breasts overflow with milk, and they cannot have children after marriage. Changes in male sexual function: low libido, impotence, lack of beard, thinning of the voice and infertility in men.
(2) Growth hormone-secreting type: changes in face, limbs and body shape: adults show broad hands and feet, broad head and face, enlarged nose, thickened lips, increased hair, and symptoms such as hoarseness, sleep snoring and sleep apnoea syndrome.
(3) Adrenocorticotropin-secreting type: centripetal obesity, with fat accumulation in the chest, abdomen and buttocks, relatively thin limbs, “centripetal obesity”, a full-moon face, significant weight gain, and subcutaneous blood vessels in the limbs showing up and purple lines.
(4) Non-functional pituitary adenoma: Most pituitary adenomas are asymptomatic in the early stages. When the pituitary adenoma is larger than 1cm in diameter, it may cause severe headache due to compression of the saddle diaphragm, with the pain mainly located behind the orbits, in the forehead and near the temples bilaterally.
(5) There are also FSH, LH and TSH pituitary tumours, which are rarely seen.
In addition to their respective symptoms, common manifestations include polydipsia (thirst and urination), headache, dizziness, significant loss of vision and visual field defects (difficulty seeing on both sides). In the case of a pituitary tumour stroke (tumour bleeding) there can also be severe headache, nausea, vomiting and even blindness.
4. How can pituitary tumours be detected?
Magnetic resonance imaging (dynamic enhancement of the pituitary gland) and endocrinological tests (prolactin, growth hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone, melanin stimulating hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, etc.) are sufficient.
5. Can pituitary tumours recur after surgery?
Pituitary tumour is a benign tumour, but there is a certain recurrence rate, about 10% or so. This is mainly due to the characteristics of the tumour itself and the fact that the pituitary gland is surrounded by important nerves and blood vessels, which are not easily removed.
6.What should I pay attention to in the treatment of pituitary tumour?
(1) Pituitary tumour is a benign tumour in the brain, so there is no need for psychological burden and you can participate in work normally.
(2) Strengthen nutrition, eat more fresh and high-protein food, and enhance physical fitness, so that the body can recover as soon as possible after the disease.
(3) Take medication seriously and insist on follow-up visits.
7.What is the best diet for pituitary tumour patients?
Eat less spicy and oily food, no need to avoid special food.
8.What are the advantages of Chinese medicine? How long do I need to take them?
After long-term clinical observation, it is confirmed that Chinese medicine has obvious efficacy advantages. It can eliminate pituitary microadenomas, reduce the recurrence rate after surgery, reduce the side effects after taking western medicine, solve some problems that cannot be solved by western medicine, and is easily accepted by patients, thus adding hope to pituitary tumour patients. After clinical observation, generally 1.5~2 years can make the tumor shrink and disappear, and the hormone return to normal range.
9. Can pituitary microadenoma be treated with pure Chinese medicine?
We advocate pure Chinese medicine treatment. Through clinical observation, many patients have recovered their hormones to the normal range and their pituitary tumours disappeared on MRI review under pure Chinese medicine treatment.