query: medical_specialty pituitary acth hypersecretion
supports: The endocrine system is the collection of glands of an organism that secrete hormones directly into the circulatory system to be carried towards distant target organs. The phenomenon of biochemical processes' serving to regulate distant tissues by means of secretions directly into the circulatory system is called endocrine signaling. The major endocrine glands include the pineal gland, pituitary gland, pancreas, ovaries, testes, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, and adrenal glands. The endocrine system is in contrast to the exocrine system, which secretes its hormones to the outside of the body using ducts. The endocrine system is an information signal system like the nervous system, yet its effects and mechanism are classifiably different. The endocrine system's effects are slow to initiate, and prolonged in their response, lasting from a few hours up to weeks. The nervous system sends information very quickly, and responses are generally short lived. In vertebrates, the hypothalamus is the neural control center for all endocrine systems. The field of study dealing with the endocrine system and its disorders is endocrinology, a branch of internal medicine.
  Special features of endocrine glands are, in general, their ductless nature, their vascularity, and commonly the presence of intracellular vacuoles or granules that store their hormones. In contrast, exocrine glands, such as salivary glands, sweat glands, and glands within the gastrointestinal tract, tend to be much less vascular and have ducts or a hollow lumen. Cushing's syndrome is a collection of signs and symptoms due to prolonged exposure to cortisol. Signs and symptoms may include: high blood pressure, abdominal obesity but with thin arms and legs, reddish stretch marks, a round red face, a fat lump between the shoulders, weak muscles, weak bones, acne, and fragile skin that heals poorly. Women may have more hair and irregular menstruation. Occasionally there may be changes in mood, headaches, and a chronic feeling of tiredness.
  Cushing's syndrome is caused by either excessive cortisol-like medication such as prednisone or a tumor that either produces or results in the production of excessive cortisol by the adrenal glands. Cases due to a pituitary adenoma are known as Cushing's disease. It is the second most common cause of Cushing's syndrome after medication. A number of other tumors may also cause Cushing's. Some of these are associated with inherited disorders such as multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 and Carney complex. Diagnosis requires a number of steps. The first step is to check the medications a person takes. The second step is to measure levels of cortisol in the urine, saliva or in the blood after taking dexamethasone. If this test is abnormal, the cortisol may be measured late at night. If the cortisol remains high, a blood test for ACTH may be done to determine if the pituitary is involved.
  Most cases can be treated and cured. If due to medications, these can often be slowly stopped. If caused by a tumor, it may be treated by a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation. If the pituitary was affected, other medications may be required to replace its lost function. With treatment, life expectancy is usually normal. Some, in whom surgery is unable to remove the entire tumor, have an increased risk of death.
  About two to three people per million are affected each year. It most commonly affects people who are 20 to 50 years of age. Women are affected three times more often than men. A mild degree of overproduction of cortisol without obvious symptoms, however, is more common. Cushing's syndrome was first described by Harvey Cushing in 1932. Cushing's syndrome may also occur in other animals including cats, dogs, and horses. Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a category of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherapy may be given with a curative intent (which almost always involves combinations of drugs), or it may aim to prolong life or to reduce symptoms (palliative chemotherapy). Chemotherapy is one of the major categories of medical oncology (the medical discipline specifically devoted to pharmacotherapy for cancer). Harvey Williams Cushing (April 8, 1869  October 7, 1939) was an American neurosurgeon. A pioneer of brain surgery, he was the first person to describe Cushing's disease. Together with Ernest Sachs, he is known as the "father of neurosurgery." A major organ of the endocrine system, the anterior pituitary (also called the adenohypophysis or pars anterior), is the glandular, anterior lobe that together with the posterior lobe (posterior pituitary, or the neurohypophysis) makes up the pituitary gland (hypophysis). The anterior pituitary regulates several physiological processes including stress, growth, reproduction and lactation. Proper functioning of the anterior pituitary and of the organs it regulates can often be ascertained via blood tests that measure hormone levels. Pituitary ACTH hypersecretion ( or Cushing disease ) is a form of hyperpituitarism characterized by an abnormally high level of ACTH produced by the anterior pituitary . It is one of the causes of Cushing 's syndrome . ( However , Cushing 's syndrome can be caused by many other causes , including exogenous administration . )
candidates: endocrinology oncology surgery
answer: endocrinology