Cushing's syndrome - Ronny Allan - Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

Tag: Cushing’s syndrome

Cushing syndrome occurs when your body has too much of the hormone cortisol over time. This can result from taking oral corticosteroid medication. Or your body might produce too much cortisol.

Too much cortisol can cause some of the hallmark signs of Cushing syndrome — a fatty hump between your shoulders, a rounded face, and pink or purple stretch marks on your skin. Cushing syndrome can also result in high blood pressure, bone loss and, on occasion, type 2 diabetes.

There are other causes which may have a variation of Cushing’s Syndrome:

The role of corticosteroid medications (exogenous Cushing syndrome)

Cushing syndrome can develop from taking oral corticosteroid medications, such as prednisone, in high doses over time.

Oral corticosteroids may be necessary to treat inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and asthma. They may also be used to prevent your body from rejecting a transplanted organ.

It’s also possible to develop Cushing syndrome from injectable corticosteroids — for example, repeated injections for joint pain, bursitis and back pain. Inhaled steroid medicines for asthma and steroid skin creams used for skin disorders such as eczema are generally less likely to cause Cushing syndrome than are oral corticosteroids. But, in some individuals, these medications may cause Cushing syndrome, especially if taken in high doses.

Your body’s own overproduction (endogenous Cushing syndrome)

The condition can be due to your body producing either too much cortisol or too much adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which regulates cortisol production.

In these cases, Cushing syndrome may be related to:

A pituitary gland tumor (pituitary adenoma). A noncancerous (benign) tumor of the pituitary gland, located at the base of the brain, produces an excess amount of ACTH, which in turn stimulates the adrenal glands to make more cortisol. When this form of the syndrome develops, it’s called Cushing disease. It occurs much more often in women and is the most common form of endogenous Cushing syndrome.
An ACTH-secreting tumor. Rarely, a tumor that develops in an organ that normally doesn’t produce ACTH will begin to secrete this hormone in excess. These tumors, which can be noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant), are usually found in the lungs, pancreas, thyroid or thymus gland.
A primary adrenal gland disease. Disorders of the adrenal glands can cause them to produce too much cortisol. The most common is a noncancerous tumor of the adrenal cortex, called an adrenal adenoma, but only a small fraction of adenomas produce too much cortisol.
Cancerous tumors of the adrenal cortex are rare, but they can cause Cushing syndrome as well. Occasionally, benign, nodular enlargement of both adrenal glands can result in Cushing syndrome.
Familial Cushing syndrome. Rarely, people inherit a tendency to develop tumors on one or more of their endocrine glands, affecting cortisol levels and causing Cushing syndrome.

03Mar 2022 by Ronny Allan No Comments

A Spotlight on Lung Neuroendocrine Neoplasms

A spotlight on NENs - Types, Awareness, Patient Advocacy, Spotlight on NENs - Types Series

WHO Classification of Tumours, 5th Edition, Volume 5: Thoracic TumoursThe aim of this spotlight is to provide a summary of the latest information on Lung Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (NEN) including the latest terminology, epidemiology data, and guidelines. This follows the publication of the Thoracic WHO classification 5th edition (2021): terminology and criteria for neuroendocrine neoplasms (Blue Book). This book has been anticipated to see if the panel compiling this follows the lead of the Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms (GEPNEN) editions issued in 2017 (Endocrine) and 2019 (Digestive systems) by removing the antiquated misnomer term ''Carcinoid" in line with the recommendations made by senior NEN doctors in 2020 to have commonality across all blue books. Neuroendocrine neoplasm update: toward universal nomenclature © 2020 Society for Endocrinology 2020, Guido Rindi and Frediano Inzani.I can tell…

16Sep 2018 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments

Diabetes – The NET Effect

Diet and Nutrition, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Survivorship

My chest infection is now settled, as too is the excitement and apprehension behind my first ever Ga68 PET - the outcome of that is still a work in progress. Earlier this year, my thyroid 'lesion' on watch and wait was given a 'damping down' with the prescription of a thyroid hormone supplement but I await a re-ignition of that small bush fire downstream. Bubbling behind the scenes and clamoring for attention is the spiking of my blood glucose test results and I was very recently declared 'at risk' for diabetes One of my followers entitled a post in my group with "The hits keep coming" in reference to encountering yet another problem in the journey with Neuroendocrine Cancer. I now know how she feels, this issue is a bit…

09Oct 2017 by Ronny Allan 5 Comments

Weight – the NET Effect

Diet and Nutrition, Survivorship

Firstly, let me say that I have no intention of advising you how to lose or gain weight! Rather, I'd like to discuss what factors might be involved and why people with NETs might lose or gain weight either at diagnosis or after treatment. Clearly, I can talk freely about my own experience and associated weight issues. If nothing else, it might help some in thinking about what is causing their own weight issues.I once wrote a patient story for an organisation and the headline was "Did you mean to lose weight". Those were actually the words a nurse said to me after I nonchalantly told her I thought I'd lost some weight (....about half a stone). I answered the question with "no" and this response triggered a sequence of…

30Nov 2016 by Ronny Allan 7 Comments

NET Syndromes – chicken or egg?

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient Advocacy

We’ve all heard the age-old question about the chicken and the egg? Scientists claimed to have 'cracked' the riddle of whether the chicken or the egg came first. The answer, they say, is the chicken. Researchers found that the formation of egg shells relies on a protein found only in a chicken's ovaries. Therefore, an egg can exist only if it has been inside a chicken. There you have it! On a similar subject, I'm often confused when someone says they have been diagnosed with 'Carcinoid Syndrome' and not one of associated 'Neuroendocrine Tumours'. So which comes first? I guess it's the way you look at it. In terms of presentation, the syndrome might look like it comes first, particularly in cases of metastatic/advanced disease or other complex scenarios. Alternatively, a tumour…

15Jun 2016 by Ronny Allan 4 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer – it can be ‘smoke and mirrors’

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

In a previous life, I used the term 'smoke and mirrors' quite a bit. I was used to dealing with many different types of people, some who wanted something, some who wanted to buy or sell something. Most of the time it was overt but the devil was usually in the detail. Sometimes there was an element of 'covertness' or a 'hidden agenda'. It was always tricky working out the details of the hidden agenda and sometimes it was only known when it was too late. Some of you will already be seeing where I'm going with this line of thinking - if so, you worked out my hidden agenda! 'Smoke and Mirrors' is basically a term connected to the art of deception, a con trick, a way in through confusion and…

04Apr 2016 by Ronny Allan 3 Comments

Somatostatin Analogues and delivery methods in the pipeline

Awareness, Clinical Trials, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer

This is my live blog post covering new developments in the area of new Somatostatin Analogues and new delivery systems. AbstractAs most of you will be aware, there are currently two main types of Somatostatin Analogues (SSA) in use for the treatment of mainstream Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) - Octreotide and Lanreotide. You can click on the links for information on both of these well-known NET treatments. This post will focus on the not so well known and anything in the pipeline including different delivery systems.Those who have read the Octreotide/ Lanreotide patient leaflets will know those SSAs are also used in the treatment of a condition known as Acromegaly. You can see why the drug is used for both as they control the release of excess secretions of various substances, a…

10Aug 2015 by Ronny Allan 16 Comments

The Syndromes of Neuroendocrine Cancer – Early Signs of a Late Diagnosis

Awareness

One of the curious things about Neuroendocrine Cancer (NETs elsewhere in the text) is that it can very often exhibit one or more vague symptoms collectively known as a 'syndrome'. Syndrome is an apt word to describe these complications as the most general meaning in medical terms is a group of symptoms that together are characteristic of a specific disorder or disease". Having a syndrome can often be the difference between having a 'functional' condition or a non-functional' condition - see more below. This frequently makes Neuroendocrine Cancer very difficult to diagnose quickly. It's a very devious disease. It's NOT all about Carcinoid Syndrome! Most people think of Carcinoid Syndrome when they discuss NETs. Anyone suggesting that all NET patients get carcinoid syndrome or that all symptoms of NETs are…

16Oct 2014 by Ronny Allan 14 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer – Horrible Hormones

Patient Advocacy

Hormonal imbalances are quite common in many conditions including day to day stuff. With Neuroendocrine Cancer, it can be a real challenge both at diagnostic and maintenance phases. In addition to the cancer angle, there's some strange stuff going on, inexplicable, frightening for the patient, an unwanted ingredient causing chaos!Until I was diagnosed with metastatic Neuroendocrine Cancer, I didn't have a clue about hormones - it's one of those things you just take for granted. However, hormones are vital to human health (male and female) and it's only when things go wrong you suddenly appreciate how important they are. Hormones are involved in many conditions, not just an issue with Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) but the presence of over-secreting hormones (often called peptides throughout) is useful to aid a diagnosis, albeit…