The Pituitary Gland: A Pea Sized Gland With A Lot Of Responsibilities

From actions to reactions, your brain helps you control how you experience life each day. While it helps you interact throughout the day, there is a specific pea-sized gland at the base of your brain responsible for sending signals throughout the organs in your body called the pituitary gland.

Even though the pituitary gland is a part of a system that guides your body on how to function, it can still make mistakes that can lead to disorders.

Fatima Kazi, MD, an endocrinologist with Franciscan Physician Network Munster Medical Center, explains the importance of the pituitary gland, how you can prevent some pituitary conditions and when to talk to an endocrinologist about concerns.

What Does The Pituitary Gland Do?

Even though it's just the size of a pea at the base of your brain, the ability for your pituitary gland to function properly is crucial.

"I tend to call it the master gland because it really is that gland that sends all the signals down to the different organs in the body,” Dr. Kazi said. “This gland is part of your endocrine system as it's in charge of making several different hormones. It tells other endocrine systems how and when to release hormones and fine-tune it."

The pituitary gland produces and releases hormones to help the body function in several ways, including:

• Metabolism
• Growth
• Salt and water balance
• Stress response
• Reproduction
• Labor
• Birth

"Hormones carry messages through your blood to various organs, including your skin, muscles and tissues," Dr. Kazi said. "These signals tell your body what to do and when."

What Are Common Pituitary Disorders?

Pituitary disorders can be caused by an overproduction or underproduction of hormones produced by the pituitary gland.

"A disorder related to the pituitary gland can impact a patient's growth, metabolism, reproduction, stress response and more," Dr. Kazi said. "Depending on what stage of life you're on, any of these problems can be a significant issue."

Hormones regulated by the pituitary gland include:

ACTH  

"One of the more crucial hormones is called ACTH or adrenocorticotropic hormone, which helps control how your body responds to stress," Dr. Kazi said. "If there's overproduction of ACTH, you can end up with diseases like Cushing's where you have excess cortisol or stress hormone being produced. Even so, an underproduction of ACTH in your body may not be able to respond to stress, which is called adrenal insufficiency."

TSH

Dr. Kazi also mentioned thyroid-stimulating hormones (TSH), a condition common among patients. TSH communicates with your thyroids to produce thyroid hormones and manage a few systems throughout your body, including:

• Metabolism
• Energy levels
• Nervous system

The disorder becomes a concern when the thyroid hormones are overproduced (hyperthyroidism, or overactive thyroid) or underproduced (hypothyroidism).

Prolactin

"Prolactin is another hormone produced throughout the body with the help of the pituitary gland," Dr. Kazi said. "It can affect fertility and primarily stimulates the breast milk production after a patient gives birth."

When the pituitary gland overproduces prolactin, it can cause infertility and milky nipple discharge. This condition is known as hyperprolactinemia.

Growth hormone

"Growth hormone is another very important hormone, not just in adults, but also in children," Dr. Kazi said. "For children, this hormone stimulates their overall growth. Still, it helps adults maintain healthy muscles, bones and even fat distribution. So, growth hormone is another hormone that affects your metabolism altogether."

Overproduction of growth hormones can result in rapid growth in height for kids and enlargement of hands, feet and organs for adults.

Other hormones

Dr. Kazi explained the follicle-stimulating hormone, which stimulates sperm production and the luteinizing hormone, which promotes ovulation and testosterone production. A disorder that underproduces pituitary hormones can cause problems with sexual functions, development and fertility.

"These are some of the hormones produced by the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland," Dr. Kazi said. "There's also a posterior lobe that's part of the pituitary. The posterior lobe helps monitor your water and salt balance and childbirth. Several hormones are produced by the pituitary gland and overproduction or underproduction of these hormones can be an issue."

Can You Prevent Pituitary Disorders?

While some pituitary disorders have a genetic link, it’s essential to protect your head and prevent damage to your pituitary gland. Dr. Kazi shares a crucial reminder to help prevent these disorders.

"You really need to protect your head to protect your pituitary gland," Dr. Kazi said. "I tell patients that most of the damage to the pituitary glands can occur from trauma or traumatic brain injury. Still, in some cases, having a growth on the pituitary gland can cause issues that aren't your control, but preventing traumatic brain injuries is still an important factor."

Dr. Kazi suggests the following to protect your pituitary gland:

• Wear a seatbelt in a vehicle at all times.
• Use a helmet on motorcycles.
• Remove obstacles and tripping hazards from the home.
• Use resources to aid with walking and vision.
• Keep the play area free of hazards for children.

"Some may take traumatic brain injuries and concussions lightly, but significant head injuries can happen at any age. You might feel like you can brush off the injury and not seek professional help, but these injuries can have long-term effects."

How Are Pituitary Disorders Treated?

Pituitary disorders are often managed through medication or hormone replacement, and you may work with an endocrinologist to manage your condition.

"An endocrinologist will diagnose any endocrine problems or hormone conditions you may have," Dr. Kazi said. "They'll develop treatments, create management plans and prescribe medications alongside follow-ups to confirm that there are no complications."

Dr. Kazi explained that endocrinologists typically manage diabetes along with thyroid, pituitary and lipid disorders.

"Communication with your provider will always be key," Dr. Kazi said. "If you're having any symptoms or concerns, it's best to talk to your provider as soon as possible. They may run simple tests and see if something is wrong or needs to be adjusted in terms of medication."

"If there's anything that's changing around in your life, such as a routine or medication, any recent stressors, an upcoming surgery, discuss that with your provider so that you can manage it together," Dr. Kazi said.