Medical Information

Pituitary Disease Factfile for General Practitioners

As pituitary disease is relatively rare in the UK, a GP may only see one or two patients with the condition through his or her career. Symptoms suffered by patients are wide-ranging and non-specific, and may not be recognised for some years. These pages and the published GP Factfile aims, therefore, to aid diagnostic skills and the shared after-care of patients.

These pages, or Factsheets, were written in response to requests by General Practitioners, and their pituitary patients, for more information on pituitary disease. The Pituitary Foundation has already produced an excellent set of patient booklets explaining how pituitary disease can affect patients' lives, the kind of treatments available and general advice on how to cope with particular problems. The pages on this site and the Factfile include more detailed information, specifically written for the GP. Each Factsheet gives background information on the condition, how it is investigated and possible treatments. In particular, it includes information on the psychological impact of pituitary disease. Since many of the investigations and treatments may be used for several different syndromes, the information on the sheets is extensively cross-referenced. Resources are provided on each factsheet and an additional separate list, including organisations, is also included.

Although written for GPs, it is in an accessible language and many of our members have found it a valuable source of information.

The full range of factsheets, which can be downloaded individually from this web site, are:

  1. Introduction
  2. Non-Functioning Pituitary Tumours
  3. Acromegaly
  4. Cushing's Disease
  5. Hyperprolactinaemia
  6. Hypopituitarism
  7. Craniopharyngioma
  8. Diabetes Insipidus
  9. Pituitary Surgery
  10. Radiotherapy
  11. Hormone Replacement Therapy
  12. Male Hypogonadism
  13. Pyschological Issues
  14. Referrals, When and to Whom

The original Factfile was supported by an educational grant from Eli Lilly & Company Ltd.

If you would like a copy of the Factfile, please complete the online order form page. Alteratively you can download the entire GP Factfile in pdf format. Please note that you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file.

(A file of 1 Mb takes approximately 5 minutes to download with a 56k modem.)

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the many consultant endocrinologists, patients, endocrine nurses and GPs who read and commented on the drafts of the original GP Factfile, especially Andy Levy, Reader in Endocrinology, University of Bristol, Division of Medicine.

Further, we would like to give special thanks to the many specialists in the world of endocrinology who have written the Factsheets published on this site including Peter Bayliss, Claire Blessing, Peter Clayton, Trevor Howlett, Jurgen Honnegar, Stafford Lightman, John Monson and Peter Trainer.  They, alongside patients and GPs, read and made valued contributions to acheive the updated Factfile on this website (original 1999 and updated 2006 - copyright The Pituitary Foundation).

Disclaimer

Every care has been taken in the compilation of this Factfile to ensure it reflects current practice (as at publishing date 2006). 

Knowledge and clinical practice continually evolve.  The reader is therefore advised to check with a specialist Endocrinologist or with a product manufacturer if they have any concerns.

The publishers and authors are not responsible for any errors or omissions or for any consequences from the application of the information presented in this Factfile.
Last Updated ( Monday, 23 June 2008 )