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Cushing’s syndrome alert: Listen to your body
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By: ARLENE FINE, Staff Reporter
When something goes wrong, the typical response is “Why me?” So when I learned I had Cushing’s syndrome and asked the “Why me?” question, I sensed the answer is that I can share my experience with others about this highly debilitating but reversible disease.
Cushing’s syndrome, or hypercortisolism, is a hormonal disorder caused by the body’s abnormal production of the hormone cortisol. The problem lies in either a malfunctioning adrenal or pituitary gland. It is relatively rare, affecting 15 out of 1 million people (most often adults 20 to 50 years old). Children can also get it.
Over the past year I felt major shifts in my body. I expressed concern to my family internist about my sudden weight gain, particularly in my upper body and face, puffy pockets of fat ringing my neck; muscle weakness; and a buffalo-like hump that appeared at the top of my shoulders.
Other symptoms included thin, easily bruised skin; the onset of osteoporosis; high blood pressure; shortness of breath; redness of my chest and face; and thinning of my legs and arms. Yet my doctor was unable to connect the dots.
Frustrated, I changed internists, and during a routine physical, my shrewd new doctor, Loren Kendis, familiar with the work of Cleveland native Dr. Harvey Cushings, gave my condition a name. He consulted with endocrinologist Dr. Robert Brenner and sent me for a simple series of blood and urine tests to measure my cortisol level. Within a week his initial diagnosis was confirmed.
I had a CT scan of the adrenal gland, located at the top of the kidney, and an MRI of the pituitary gland. My problem turned out to be an adrenal adenoma, a benign tumor of the adrenal gland. The cause of adrenal adenomas is unknown, but the current theory is that they arise because of mutations in certain genes.
Following laparoscopic removal of the diseased adrenal gland at The Cleveland Clinic, I’ll require steroid replacement for a few months, as normal adrenal tissue does not recover immediately.
I’m going to be fine, I’ve been told, but only because I took control of my own health and at last received expert medical advice.
Gone untreated, Cushing’s syndrome is fatal.
They say architects plant vines to hide their mistakes; doctors bury them. The moral of this cautionary tale? Listen to your body. The life you save may be your own.
afine@cjn.org
Cushing’s syndrome, or hypercortisolism, is a hormonal disorder caused by the body’s abnormal production of the hormone cortisol. The problem lies in either a malfunctioning adrenal or pituitary gland. It is relatively rare, affecting 15 out of 1 million people (most often adults 20 to 50 years old). Children can also get it.
Over the past year I felt major shifts in my body. I expressed concern to my family internist about my sudden weight gain, particularly in my upper body and face, puffy pockets of fat ringing my neck; muscle weakness; and a buffalo-like hump that appeared at the top of my shoulders.
Other symptoms included thin, easily bruised skin; the onset of osteoporosis; high blood pressure; shortness of breath; redness of my chest and face; and thinning of my legs and arms. Yet my doctor was unable to connect the dots.
Frustrated, I changed internists, and during a routine physical, my shrewd new doctor, Loren Kendis, familiar with the work of Cleveland native Dr. Harvey Cushings, gave my condition a name. He consulted with endocrinologist Dr. Robert Brenner and sent me for a simple series of blood and urine tests to measure my cortisol level. Within a week his initial diagnosis was confirmed.
I had a CT scan of the adrenal gland, located at the top of the kidney, and an MRI of the pituitary gland. My problem turned out to be an adrenal adenoma, a benign tumor of the adrenal gland. The cause of adrenal adenomas is unknown, but the current theory is that they arise because of mutations in certain genes.
Following laparoscopic removal of the diseased adrenal gland at The Cleveland Clinic, I’ll require steroid replacement for a few months, as normal adrenal tissue does not recover immediately.
I’m going to be fine, I’ve been told, but only because I took control of my own health and at last received expert medical advice.
Gone untreated, Cushing’s syndrome is fatal.
They say architects plant vines to hide their mistakes; doctors bury them. The moral of this cautionary tale? Listen to your body. The life you save may be your own.
afine@cjn.org
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