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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests

Learn More

• Specifics
• Genetics

See, Play and Learn

• Videos and Tutorials

Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Teenagers
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Your pituitary gland is a pea-sized gland at the base of your brain. The pituitary is the "master control gland" - it makes hormones that affect growth and the functions of other glands in the body.

With pituitary disorders, you often have too much or too little of one of your hormones. Injuries can cause pituitary disorders, but the most common cause is a pituitary tumor.

Start Here

• Brain Hormones (Endocrine Society)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH) (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Brain MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH) Levels Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Growth Hormone Tests (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor 1) Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Luteinizing Hormone (LH) Levels Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Acromegaly (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Empty Sella Syndrome (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• Galactorrhea (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• Hyperprolactinemia (Endocrine Society)
• Hypopituitarism (Endocrine Society)
• Septo-Optic Dysplasia (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

Genetics

• Combined pituitary hormone deficiency: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)

Videos and Tutorials

• Pituitary gland (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Acromegaly (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Pituitary Diseases (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Effects of glucocorticoid replacement therapy in patients with pituitary disease: A...
• Article: Pituitary abscess: a descriptive analysis of a series of 19 patients-a...
• Article: Proteomics for the identification of peripheral markers in pituitary disease.
• Pituitary Disorders -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• Endocrine System (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Find an Expert

• Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Also in Spanish
• Find an Endocrinologist (Endocrine Society)
• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Also in Spanish

Children

• Your Endocrine System (For Kids) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

• Endocrine System (For Teens) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• ACTH blood test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• ACTH stimulation test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Empty sella syndrome (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) blood test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Gigantism (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Growth hormone stimulation test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Hypopituitarism (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Luteinizing hormone (LH) blood test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Pituitary apoplexy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish