Adrenal Gland Disorder - Pheochromocytoma

Pheochromocytoma

Symptoms

Pheochromocytoma is a tumor of special cells that arises inside the “adrenal glands’ chromaffin cells”. These chromaffin cells may be found anywhere in the heart and in the area around the bladder, but they are mostly found in the adrenal glands. When adrenaline or hormones are released too much from the adrenal gland, they cause high blood pressure. Pheochromocytomas are found in a person’s body because he has inherited these from his parents. With “autosomal dominant inheritance,” men and women are equally likely to inherit the disease. However, they are more common in women than in men. This syndrome can occur in any age, but mostly in between the ages of 30 to 60. The most common symptoms of pheochromocytoma are hypertension or high blood pressure. These symptoms usually occur in a sudden attack. The other symptoms of the disease are “headaches, excess sweating, racing heart, rapid breathing, anxiety, nervousness, pain in the lower chest or upper abdomen, nausea, or heat intolerance.” In between attacks, people with the syndrome can experience weight loss or increased sweating. The attacks occur frequently in a week and they may last up to 15 minutes.

Causes

The main cause for most pheochromocytoma is not yet known. Inherited pheochromocytoma is a 10 to 20 percent chance of causing the disease. It is from an inherited autosomal dominant trait. According to some research patients recently diagnosed with hypertension have pheochromocytoma. It is seen in both sexes and usually between the age of 30 and 40.

Treatments

Pheochromocytoma is a rare disease where the tumor forms in the chromaffin cells of the body. There are many ways to treat the pheochromocytoma. One of which is by surgery. The first step in doing so is to find out where the tumor is and then they surgically remove it. During this process one or two adrenal glands can be removed and this is known as adrenalectomy. The lymph nodes and tissues maybe removed if the cancer has started to spread. If one does not want to do surgery then they can do chemotherapy where drugs are used to kill the cancer cells. In this process one can take pills or they can take it intravenously which is a bag that drips solutions into the vein. The way this treatment works is the drugs flow through the body killing cancer cells that are located in the body. The last method for this treatment is radiation therapy. In this they use high energy x-rays that destroys the cancer cells and reduces the size of the tumors. Pheochromocytoma has no methods for prevention.