medical_specialty cushing's syndrome
Harvey Williams Cushing ( April 8 , 1869  October 7 , 1939 ) was an American neurosurgeon . A pioneer of brain ___MASK88___ , he was the first person to describe Cushing ' s disease . Together with Ernest Sachs , he is known as the " father of neurosurgery ." Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 ( MEN - 1 syndrome ) or Wermer ' s syndrome is part of a group of disorders , the multiple endocrine neoplasias , that affect the endocrine system through development of neoplastic lesions in pituitary , parathyroid gland and pancreas . Abdominal obesity , also known as central obesity , is when excessive abdominal fat around the stomach and abdomen has built up to the extent that it is likely to have a negative impact on health . There is a strong correlation between central obesity and cardiovascular disease . Abdominal obesity is not confined only to the elderly and obese subjects . Abdominal obesity has been linked to Alzheimer ' s disease as well as other metabolic and vascular diseases . Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have a negative effect on health . People are generally considered obese when their body mass index ( BMI ), a measurement obtained by dividing a person ' s weight by the square of the person ' s height , is over , with the range defined as overweight . Some East Asian countries use lower values . Obesity increases the likelihood of various diseases , particularly heart disease , type 2 diabetes , obstructive sleep apnea , certain types of cancer , and osteoarthritis . Obesity is most commonly caused by a combination of excessive food intake , lack of physical activity , and genetic susceptibility . A few cases are caused primarily by genes , endocrine disorders , medications , or mental illness . The view that obese people eat little yet gain weight due to a slow metabolism is not generally supported . On average , obese people have a greater energy expenditure than their thin counterparts due to the energy required to maintain an increased body mass . Obesity is mostly preventable through a combination of social changes and personal choices . Changes to diet and exercising are the main treatments . Diet quality can be improved by reducing the consumption of energy - dense foods , such as those high in fat and sugars , and by increasing the intake of dietary fiber . Medications may be taken , along with a suitable diet , to reduce appetite or decrease fat absorption . If diet , exercise , and medication are not effective , a gastric balloon or ___MASK88___ may be performed to reduce stomach volume or bowel length , leading to feeling full earlier or a reduced ability to absorb nutrients from food . Obesity is a leading preventable cause of death worldwide , with increasing rates in adults and children . In 2014 , 600 million adults ( 13 %) and 42 million children under the age of five were obese . Obesity is more common in women than men . Authorities view it as one of the most serious public health problems of the 21st century . Obesity is stigmatized in much of the modern world ( particularly in the Western world ), though it was seen as a symbol of wealth and fertility at other times in history and still is in some parts of the world . In 2013 , the American Medical Association classified obesity as a disease . Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body . Not all tumors are cancerous ; benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body . Possible signs and symptoms include a lump , abnormal bleeding , prolonged cough , unexplained weight loss and a change in bowel movements . While these symptoms may indicate cancer , they may have other causes . Over 100 types of cancers affect humans . Tobacco use is the cause of about 22 % of cancer deaths . Another 10 % is due to obesity , poor diet , lack of physical activity and drinking alcohol . Other factors include certain infections , exposure to ionizing radiation and environmental pollutants . In the developing world nearly 20 % of cancers are due to infections such as hepatitis B , hepatitis C and human papillomavirus ( HPV ). These factors act , at least partly , by changing the genes of a cell . Typically many genetic changes are required before cancer develops . Approximately 5  10 % of cancers are due to inherited genetic defects from a person ' s parents . Cancer can be detected by certain signs and symptoms or screening tests . It is then typically further investigated by medical imaging and confirmed by biopsy . Many cancers can be prevented by not smoking , maintaining a healthy weight , not drinking too much alcohol , eating plenty of vegetables , fruits and whole grains , vaccination against certain infectious diseases , not eating too much processed and red meat , and avoiding too much sunlight exposure . Early detection through screening is useful for cervical and colorectal cancer . The benefits of screening in breast cancer are controversial . Cancer is often treated with some combination of radiation therapy , ___MASK88___ , chemotherapy , and targeted therapy . Pain and symptom management are an important part of care . Palliative care is particularly important in people with advanced disease . The chance of survival depends on the type of cancer and extent of disease at the start of treatment . In children under 15 at diagnosis the five - year survival rate in the developed world is on average 80 %. For cancer in the United States the average five - year survival rate is 66 %. In 2012 about 14 . 1 million new cases of cancer occurred globally ( not including skin cancer other than melanoma ). It caused about 8 . 2 million deaths or 14 . 6 % of human deaths . The most common types of cancer in males are lung cancer , prostate cancer , colorectal cancer and stomach cancer . In females , the most common types are breast cancer , colorectal cancer , lung cancer and cervical cancer . If skin cancer other than melanoma were included in total new cancers each year it would account for around 40 % of cases . In children , acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and brain tumors are most common except in Africa where non - Hodgkin lymphoma occurs more often . In 2012 , about 165 , 000 children under 15 years of age were diagnosed with cancer . The risk of cancer increases significantly with age and many cancers occur more commonly in developed countries . Rates are increasing as more people live to an old age and as lifestyle changes occur in the developing world . The financial costs of cancer were estimated at $ 1 . 16 trillion US dollars per year as of 2010 . Definitions . Cancers are a large family of diseases that involve abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body . They form a subset of neoplasms . A neoplasm or tumor is a group of cells that have undergone unregulated growth and will often form a mass or lump , but may be distributed diffusely . Pharmacotherapy is therapy using pharmaceutical drugs , as distinguished from therapy using ___MASK88___ ( surgical therapy ), radiation ( radiation therapy ), movement ( physical therapy ), or other modes . Among physicians , sometimes the term medical therapy refers specifically to pharmacotherapy as opposed to surgical or other therapy ; for example , in oncology , medical oncology is thus distinguished from surgical oncology . A chemotherapy regimen is a regimen for chemotherapy , defining the drugs to be used , their dosage , the frequency and duration of treatments , and other considerations . In modern ___MASK10___ , many regimens combine several chemotherapy drugs in combination chemotherapy . The majority of drugs used in cancer chemotherapy are cytostatic , many via cytotoxicity . 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 ___MASK68___ , 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 . 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 ___MASK10___ ( the medical discipline specifically devoted to pharmacotherapy for cancer ). 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 ___MASK88___ , 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 ___MASK88___ 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 . In medicine , an adverse effect is an undesired harmful effect resulting from a medication or other intervention such as ___MASK88___ . Prednisone is a synthetic corticosteroid drug that is particularly effective as an immunosuppressant drug . It is used to treat certain inflammatory diseases ( such as moderate allergic reactions ), some autoimmune diseases , and ( at higher doses ) some types of cancer , but it has significant adverse effects .