So it turns out that the 8th of April was Cushing's Disease Awareness Day, and I completely missed it. Not least because it was Easter Sunday, i.e. the first day I could eat chocolate again having given it up for Lent. It does seem cruelly ironic that the awareness day for a terrible disease, a key symptom of which is central obesity, should fall on a day that the rest of the world dedicates to filling their faces with fatty treats.*
Anyway, dedicated readers of my blog already know what Cushing's Disease is, but for everyone else: Cushing's Disease is caused by a tumour, known as an adenoma, on the pituitary gland. The tumour produces high levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) which can result in obesity, high sweating, hair loss, hypertension, diabetes, headaches, painful joints, and other not-so-fun symptoms. Treatment is chiefly through surgery and radiotherapy, as Cushing's is difficult to treat with medication.
There's a group of bloggers who suffer from Cushing's Disease who've been doing the "Cushing's Awareness Challenge", blogging on a different topic about their illness for every day of April. You can find out more about the challenge and read some of their blog posts by clicking here.
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*Well, I do anyway.
well i have been diagnosed with the disease and awaiting a decision by the endo as to where we go from here. just did the mri. i feel miserable inside my body everyday.. but as they say, it can be fixed so i am hoping for the best. i have some weird symptoms and i dont even know if they are caused from the cushings..plus i have diabetes and HBP... juust my luck..!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that! I hope your treatment goes well and you're not too down about the diagnosis. At least now you know what's wrong, and you can start getting it treated :)
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