Cushings

Inro
I’ve decided to write about Cushing’s disease. I wanted to learn more about this disease because about 3 years ago my mom was diagnosed with Cushing’s. She has actually been suffering from this disease for almost 11 years. For the longest time doctors didn’t know what she had or what was going on. She was a very active person. She taught aerobics about 6 to 7 times a week and she was still gaining weight, feeling weak and having seizures. Because of this my mom was worried about what was going on with her body. After 4 years of this and doctors not being able to figure out what was wrong with her she decided to get on the internet and Google her symptoms. After weeks and months of surfing the internet she was able to diagnose herself. She found she had Cushing’s and began to start looking for a doctor that specialized in Cushing’s.

Cushing’s
Cushing’s syndrome is a rare syndrome where the adrenal cortex gives off a massive amount of corticosteroids which leads to a plethora of symptoms. The secretion of this substance leads to tumors that are found in the adrenal glands or in the pituitary gland. When I say rare I mean RARE! The stats say that only 10-15 people per million develop this disease per year. This syndrome can be found in men or women normally between the ages of 20 and 50. Cushing’s is found more often in women than men.

Symptoms
The symptoms for adolescent Cushing’s are as follows:
· Extreme weight gain
· Growth retardation
· Missed periods - in teenage girls
· Excess hair growth
· Body hair growth
· Facial hair growth
· Acne
· Reddish-blue streaks on the skin
· High blood pressure
· Tiredness
· Muscle weakness
· Very early puberty
· Very late puberty

The symptoms for adults:
· Extreme weight gain
o Upper body obesity
o Rounded face
o Increased neck fat
· Excess hair growth
· High blood pressure
· Sleep disturbances
· High blood sugar
· Diabetes-like symptoms
· Hyperadrenocorticism
· Bruising easily
· Skin problems
· Thin skin
· Fragile skin
· Poor healing
· Stretch marks
· Abdominal stretch marks
· Mood changes
o Irritability
o Anxiety
o Depression
o Moodiness
o Fatigue
o Mental disturbances
· Weak muscles
o Backaches
o Thinning arms
o Thinning legs
· Weak bones
o Rib fractures
o Spinal column fractures
· Sexual and fertility problems
o Irregular menstrual periods
o Absent menstrual periods
o Reduced libido
o Reduced male fertility
o Virilisation
o Deepening voice
o Balding
o Loss of scalp hair
o Hirsutism
o Increased facial hair
o Increased body hair
· Increased weight
· Rounded face
· Obesity around trunk
· Slender limbs
· Red face
· Thin skin
· Fragile skin
· Slow-healing skin
· Weakened connective tissue
· Reddish-blue stretch marks
· Excessive hair thickness in women
· Menstrual disorders
· Impaired male fertility
· Reduced male sex drive
· Absent male sex drive
· Hypertension
· Brittle bones
· Fractures
· Osteoporosis
· Hyperglycemia
· Severe weakness
· Fatigue
· Psychiatric disturbances

Diagnosis
The best thing to do as an adult is to get tested. You can go to your doctor and ask to have your adrenal glands and pituitary glands x-rayed. You can also get a CT scan, MRI and/or ultrasound to make sure that you don’t have any tumors or early symptoms of Cushing’s.

Available Treatment
To be treated for Cushing’s your body must first get back to its normal balance of hormones. Depending on where the tumor is will depend greatly on what is to be done. If the tumor is on the adrenal glands the doctors can either perform surgery and remove the tumor or in very bad cases remove both adrenal glands. If the tumor is in the pituitary gland then the doctor can again try to remove the tumor or in bad cases remove the entire gland. If this is done the patient will have to take hormone medications for the rest of their life to keep their hormones in balance. In both cases chemotherapy is normally tried first to see if they can weaken it and lower its ACTH output.