Medical comments from Dr. Lewis Blevins MD. Director Center for Pituitary Disorders at University California San Francisco
From the desk of Lewis S. Blevins, Jr. M.D. PWN cofounder – Idiopathic isolated central adrenal insufficiency remains a mystery. I’ve seen several patients with this condition in my career. I first learned about it
J.D. wrote his story and the intimation was that I should do the same so that all of you know who we are. So, I’ll do it this way……let’s call it….things you may not know
From Lewis Blevins, MD – The pituitary gland secretes ACTH that in turn drives cortisol production by the adrenal glands. ACTH secretion is determined by ambient cortisol levels, which inhibit ACTH production and secretion, and
From Lewis Blevins, MD – Photo of Dr. Lewis Blevins – Cortisol is a stress hormone. Thus, physical or psychic stress can elevate cortisol levels in normal persons. Depression and alcoholism can elevate cortisol
From Dr. Lewis Blevins. What constitutes a normal test result? In most endocrine assays, it is a population of supposedly normal individuals that defines the upper and lower limits of normal. Take the mean, and
From Lewis Blevins, MD – Image from UPMC – The hypothalamus is recognized as the part of the brain that surrounds the third ventricle. It contains the cell bodies of neurons that release hypothalamic hormones
From Dr. Lewis Blevins. Patient’s with pituitary and thyroid disorders may be required to make adjustments in thyroid hormone dosages since their glands cannot work together to make those adjustments in certain situations that
From Dr. Lewis Blevins. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) is produced by the pituitary gland and leads to the secretion of T4 and T3 by the thyroid gland. Most circulating T3 is driveed from the peripheral
From Dr. Lewis Blevins. Growth Hormone levels, by themselves, are not a good indicator of GH sufficiency. Levels are undetectable 50% of the time during the day in normal persons. Thus, when a diagnosis
From Dr. Lewis Blevins. There is a lot of confusion as to what constitutes a replacement dose of a steroid hormone for patients with hypopituitarism. The textbooks are wrong and, if we took doses they
Head trauma of many different types can cause hypopituitarism. The pituitary stalk can be literally torn in two causing hypopituitarism and Diabetes Insipidus as well as hyperprolactinemia. This woman’s story is not unlike many others
From Dr. Lewis Blevins. Growth Hormone is secreted in pulses, usually 9-12 per 24-hour period, and most of these occur at night while we are sleeping. In normal adults, growth hormone levels are undetectable 50%
From Dr. Lewis Blevins. Central Hypothyroidism due to pituitary or hypothalamic disease: Central hypothyroidism is a condition where the thyroid gland does not function very well because of lack of stimulation by the pituitary gland.