Pituitary Awareness Quiz: The Results

I was so impressed by how many of you took part in my little quiz - apologies for the long delay in coming out and praising you for it! Some people dipped in and out for the odd question, while others were with us for the long haul.

Bearing in mind that double points were awarded for witty answers rather than merely correct ones, I present... The Results!

THE RESULTS

The winner is... Clare! With the close runner-up Davey D. Congratulations guys, you may officially brag wildly about your knowledge of the pituitary gland and its inhabitants.

And as I did promise a praise poem for the winner:


There was a young lady named Clare
As wise (and fierce) as an owlbear.
She was a quiz queen
 - quite the answer machine -
she made other contestants despair!

Pituitary Awareness Quiz: The Answers

Hola! Well, I'm just back from a spot of festive carol singing at the local pub with my whole family in tow, and I thought: what better time to finally put up the answers to October's National Pituitary Month quiz?

THE ANSWERS:

Q.1: Acromegaly is a rare disease caused by a growth-hormone-secreting pituitary tumour, which can lead to gigantism and excessive growth of the body's tissues. But what language is the word "acromegaly" derived from, and what does it literally mean?

Correct answer: c) from the Greek akros "highest; extremity" and megalos "large".

***

Q.2: Approximately how many (normal-sized) human pituitary glands could you fit in an Olympic-sized swimming pool?

Correct answer: Wildly debateable! Although I did have a correct answer, calculated by my lovely boyfriend on the basis of the human pituitary gland being roughly the size of a pea and assuming that the glands on the bottom retained their shape instead of being pulverized by the weight of the ones on top, I decided to award a point to anyone who showed their working; because it's the effort that counts!

***

Q.3: Which of these is an alternative name for the pituitary stalk?

Correct answer: c) The infundibular stem

***

Q.4: The human pituitary gland will vary in size over a person's life. What physiological event (other than untoward tumourousness) causes the pituitary gland to reach its largest natural size... and why?

Correct answer: Pregnancy, although the gland tends to be at its largest shortly after giving birth. This is due to lactotroph hyperplasia; basically that means an increase in the number of cells which secrete the hormone prolactin, which stimulates milk production for breastfeeding.

***

Q.5: Beta-endorphin is used by the body to numb pain, and is found in the anterior pituitary gland, as well as the hypothalamus. From the extracts of which species' pituitary gland was beta-endorphin first discovered?

Correct answer: d) Camel (apparently!)

***

 

Q.6: Only one of the following pituitary-related conditions was first identified by a woman named Cindy. But which one was it?

Correct answer: a) Sheehan Syndrome

***

Q.7: A five point bonus was awarded for writing a poem about the pituitary: there are no wrong answers!

***

Q.8: I'm currently receiving monthly lanreotide injections. These are somatostatin analogues - hormone injections - which counteract the effect of my pituitary adenoma producing too much thyroid hormone. Assuming this is the only medication I'm taking, and assuming I live in England... am I allowed to donate blood?

Correct answer: a) Yes

***

Q.9: Which of the below is the correct spelling of the full name of the pituitary hormone ACTH? (no cheating!)

Correct answer: d) adrenocorticotropic hormone
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Q.10: What hormone does my pituitary tumour overproduce?

Correct answer: a) Thyroid stimulating hormone

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Q.11: Who is this man, and what does he have to do with the pituitary gland?

Correct answer: Harvey Cushing, pioneering neurosurgeon and the man who discovered Cushing's Syndrome.

***

So now you know!

The results will be out tomorrow...

Pituitary Awareness Quiz: The final day!

Thanks to everyone who has partaken of the quiz! Today is not just Halloween, it's also the end of National Pituitary Awareness Month, which is obviously both far more important and far more tragic. Hopefully you have been educated and enthralled; probably not, but I am deeply optimistic. Today is your last chance to  answer any questions you haven't answered yet - then tomorrow I shall publish the correct answers and, of course, the winner!

And as a Halloween bonus, you cannot fail to gain a point today :)

Pituitary Awareness Quiz

Day 11, Question 11

Q.11: Have you learned anything about the pituitary gland from taking part in this quiz?

a) Yes

b) Indeed

Pituitary Awareness Quiz: Day 11

Pituitary Awareness Quiz

Day 11, Question 11

Q.11: Who is this man, and what does he have to do with the pituitary gland? No multiple-choice today I'm afraid... you're on your own!

Pituitary Awareness Quiz: Day 10

Another day missed! Apologies. I do have an exciting update but I'm not sure I'm up to typing it all this evening. Consequently, I present today's super simple question:

Pituitary Awareness Quiz

Day 10, Question 10

Q.10: What hormone does my pituitary tumour overproduce?

a) Thyroid stimulating hormone

b) Thyrotropin releasing hormone

c) Thyroid hormone

Pituitary Awareness Quiz: Day 9

Eagle-eyed readers will have noted that this is in fact Day 10, but I abjectly failed to write a question yesterday (though I did write a poem, which is nearly as good) so it's only question nine. I could have called this Day 10, Question 9, but that just seems confusing so I'm working on the basis that yesterday was just a small aberration in time and space, and the quiz will continue from here!

Pituitary Awareness Quiz

Day 9, Question 9

Q.9: Which of the below is the correct spelling of the full name of the pituitary hormone ACTH? (no cheating!)

a) adrenalcortecotropic hormone

b) adrenecorticotropic hormone

c) adrenalcorticotropic hormone

d) adrenocorticotropic hormone

Pituitary Awareness Quiz: Day 8

I received one incredibly excellent poem in response to yesterday's question, I thoroughly encourage you all to go check it out! (And remember; it's never too late to respond!)

Today's question will be rather more staid and run-of-the-mill, however it may require a little detective work to find the right answer. Equally though, you have a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right without doing the legwork! But if you get it wrong, you'll look kind of foolish right? Hmm... tricksy.

Pituitary Awareness Quiz

Day 8, Question 8

Q.8: I'm currently receiving monthly lanreotide injections. These are somatostatin analogues - hormone injections - which counteract the effect of my pituitary adenoma producing too much thyroid hormone.
Assuming this is the only medication I'm taking, and assuming I live in England... am I allowed to donate blood?

a) Yes

b) No

Pituitary Awareness Quiz: Day 7

Regular readers will be unsurprised to hear that I still have not heard back from the hospital about, you know, getting my surgery arranged or whether I need to go to the MRI I'm due to have in a week. I had a really special time on Friday when I tried to contact the neurosurgery clinic to find out what the heck was going on. It went something like this:

Attempt 1:

Hospital Employee 1: Hello, switchboard at The Hospital, how may I help?
Me: Hi, could you put me through to the neurosurgery clinic please?
Hospital Employee 1: (suddenly speaking s-l-o-w-l-y and clearly) Yes, of course, I'll put you through now.
(A pause. The phone rings.)
Hospital Employee 2: Hello, Dermatology department. How can I help?

Attempt 2:

Hospital Employee 1: Hello, switchboard at The Hospital, how may I help?
Me: Hi, I just called to be put through to neurosurgery but I ended up on the dermatology phone instead?
Hospital Employee 1: Oh, sorry about that. I'll just connect you now.
(A pause. The phone rings.)

(For like five minutes, then I gave up)

On attempt 3 I got through to the Neuroscience answering machine and left a message, but I'm not hugely sanguine about the results, especially as they've now had three days to phone me. Oi vey!

Anyway, today's question is a more creative question. Presenting:

Pituitary Awareness Quiz

Day 7, Question 7

Q.7: I will be awarding a SPECTACULAR bonus of no less than FIVE POINTS to anyone who can write me a short poem (two lines is sufficient) about/vaguely related to the pituitary. Bonus points for anyone who finds a rhyme for "pituitary"!

Pituitary Awareness Quiz: Day 6

Yesterday's animal-based question proved wildly unpopular. So I thought I'd leave animal-based questions behind and go for a classic history lesson set-up!

National Pituitary Awareness Month Pituitary Awareness Quiz

Day 6, Question 6

Q.6: Only one of the following pituitary-related conditions was first identified by a woman named Cindy. But which one was it?

a) Sheehan Syndrome

b) Cushing's Syndrome

c) Addison's Disease

d) Pituitary apoplexy

Pituitary Awareness Quiz: Day 5

Aloha! Today's question is rather late, I very nearly forgot to write it at all. Nearly... but not quite! The nice thing about doing this quiz has been that I've also learned things about the pituitary and its various hormones that I never knew before. And so, ladies and gentlemen, I present:

National Pituitary Awareness Month Pituitary Awareness Quiz

Day 5, Question 5

Q.5: Beta-endorphin is used by the body to numb pain, and is found in the anterior pituitary gland, as well as the hypothalamus. From the extracts of which species' pituitary gland was beta-endorphin first discovered?

a) Dolphin

b) Guinea Pig

c) Chimp

d) Camel

e) Owlbear

Bonus Question: How do you extract an owlbear's pituitary?

Pituitary Awareness Quiz: Day 4

 And we're on to day four! Today I have chosen not to do a multiple choice question, which is perhaps slightly evil - but equally it's a fairly easy question, so you should be fine. Ready, set.... Google!

National Pituitary Awareness Month Pituitary Awareness Quiz
Day 4, Question 4

Q.4: The human pituitary gland will vary in size over a person's life. What physiological event (other than untoward tumourousness) causes the pituitary gland to reach its largest natural size... and why?

Pituitary Awareness Quiz: Day 3

I have to say, I have been delighted almost beyond reason by the responses I have received so far! Today I seemed to spend a lot of my time making pies (apple crumble and puff pastry chicken pie with peppers), and playing boardgames (I don't even remember their names), it was excellent. But it left an unfortunately small amount of time for writing today's question. Nevertheless, allow me to present:

National Pituitary Awareness Month Pituitary Awareness Quiz

Day 3, Question 3

Q.3: Which of these is an alternative name for the pituitary stalk?

a) The fungible branch

b) The expungable peduncle

c) The infundibular stem

d) The peduncular pedicle

Pituitary Awareness Quiz: Day 2

Welcome to today's question about the pituitary gland! Yesterday's question was relatively easy to Google, so I thought I'd throw in a slightly more tricky one for you (and my boyfriend did the calculations!).

National Awareness Month Pituitary Awareness Quiz

Day 2 - Question 2

Q.2: Approximately how many (normal-sized) human pituitary glands could you fit in an Olympic-sized swimming pool?

a) 4 billion

b) 20 billion

c) 50 billion

d) 100 million

e) 100 billion

Anyone who provides workings to back up their answer will receive great respect. Good luck!