medical_specialty pituitary acth hypersecretion
Chemotherapy ( often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx ) is a category of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti - cancer drugs ( chemotherapeutic agents ) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen . Chemotherapy may be given with a curative intent ( which almost always involves combinations of drugs ), or it may aim to prolong life or to reduce symptoms ( palliative chemotherapy ). Chemotherapy is one of the major categories of medical ___MASK23___ ( the medical discipline specifically devoted to pharmacotherapy for cancer ). A major organ of the endocrine system , the anterior pituitary ( also called the adenohypophysis or pars anterior ), is the glandular , anterior lobe that together with the posterior lobe ( posterior pituitary , or the neurohypophysis ) makes up the pituitary gland ( hypophysis ). The anterior pituitary regulates several physiological processes including stress , growth , reproduction and lactation . Proper functioning of the anterior pituitary and of the organs it regulates can often be ascertained via blood tests that measure hormone levels . Harvey Williams Cushing ( April 8 , 1869  October 7 , 1939 ) was an American neurosurgeon . A pioneer of brain ___MASK75___ , he was the first person to describe Cushing ' s disease . Together with Ernest Sachs , he is known as the " father of neurosurgery ." Cushing ' s syndrome is a collection of signs and symptoms due to prolonged exposure to cortisol . Signs and symptoms may include : high blood pressure , abdominal obesity but with thin arms and legs , reddish stretch marks , a round red face , a fat lump between the shoulders , weak muscles , weak bones , acne , and fragile skin that heals poorly . Women may have more hair and irregular menstruation . Occasionally there may be changes in mood , headaches , and a chronic feeling of tiredness . Cushing ' s syndrome is caused by either excessive cortisol - like medication such as prednisone or a tumor that either produces or results in the production of excessive cortisol by the adrenal glands . Cases due to a pituitary adenoma are known as Cushing ' s disease . It is the second most common cause of Cushing ' s syndrome after medication . A number of other tumors may also cause Cushing ' s . Some of these are associated with inherited disorders such as multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 and Carney complex . Diagnosis requires a number of steps . The first step is to check the medications a person takes . The second step is to measure levels of cortisol in the urine , saliva or in the blood after taking dexamethasone . If this test is abnormal , the cortisol may be measured late at night . If the cortisol remains high , a blood test for ACTH may be done to determine if the pituitary is involved . Most cases can be treated and cured . If due to medications , these can often be slowly stopped . If caused by a tumor , it may be treated by a combination of ___MASK75___ , chemotherapy , and / or radiation . If the pituitary was affected , other medications may be required to replace its lost function . With treatment , life expectancy is usually normal . Some , in whom ___MASK75___ is unable to remove the entire tumor , have an increased risk of death . About two to three people per million are affected each year . It most commonly affects people who are 20 to 50 years of age . Women are affected three times more often than men . A mild degree of overproduction of cortisol without obvious symptoms , however , is more common . Cushing ' s syndrome was first described by Harvey Cushing in 1932 . Cushing ' s syndrome may also occur in other animals including cats , dogs , and horses . Pituitary ACTH hypersecretion ( or Cushing disease ) is a form of hyperpituitarism characterized by an abnormally high level of ACTH produced by the anterior pituitary . It is one of the causes of Cushing ' s syndrome . ( However , Cushing ' s syndrome can be caused by many other causes , including exogenous administration . ) The endocrine system is the collection of glands of an organism that secrete hormones directly into the circulatory system to be carried towards distant target organs . The phenomenon of biochemical processes ' serving to regulate distant tissues by means of secretions directly into the circulatory system is called endocrine signaling . The major endocrine glands include the pineal gland , pituitary gland , pancreas , ovaries , testes , thyroid gland , parathyroid gland , and adrenal glands . The endocrine system is in contrast to the exocrine system , which secretes its hormones to the outside of the body using ducts . The endocrine system is an information signal system like the nervous system , yet its effects and mechanism are classifiably different . The endocrine system ' s effects are slow to initiate , and prolonged in their response , lasting from a few hours up to weeks . The nervous system sends information very quickly , and responses are generally short lived . In vertebrates , the hypothalamus is the neural control center for all endocrine systems . The field of study dealing with the endocrine system and its disorders is ___MASK40___ , a branch of internal medicine . Special features of endocrine glands are , in general , their ductless nature , their vascularity , and commonly the presence of intracellular vacuoles or granules that store their hormones . In contrast , exocrine glands , such as salivary glands , sweat glands , and glands within the gastrointestinal tract , tend to be much less vascular and have ducts or a hollow lumen .