Acro Health Dictionary

A condition, occurring especially in young women, in which there is persistent blueness of hands, feet, nose and ears as a result of slow circulation of blood through the small vessels of the skin.... acrocyanosis

A disorder caused by the increased secretion of growth hormone by an ADENOMA of the anterior PITUITARY GLAND. It results in excessive growth of both the skeletal and the soft tissues. If it occurs in adolescence before the bony epiphyses have fused, the result is gigantism; if it occurs in adult life the skeletal overgrowth is con?ned to the hands, feet, cranial sinuses and jaw. Most of the features are due to overgrowth of the cartilage of the nose and ear and of the soft tissues which increase the thickness of the skin and lips. Viscera such as the thyroid and liver are also affected. The overgrowth of the soft tissues is gradual.

The local effects of the tumour commonly cause headache and, less frequently, impairment of vision, particularly of the temporal ?eld of vision, as a result of pressure on the nerves to the eye. The tumour may damage the other pituitary cells giving rise to gonadal, thyroid or adrenocortical insu?ciency. The disease often becomes obvious in persons over about 45 years of age; they may also complain of excessive sweating, joint pains and lethargy. The diagnosis is con?rmed by measuring the level of growth hormone in the serum and by an X-ray of the skull which usually shows enlargement of the pituitary fossa.

Treatment The most e?ective treatment is surgically to remove the pituitary adenoma. This can usually be done through the nose and the sphenoid sinus, but large adenomas may need a full CRANIOTOMY. Surgery cures about 80 per cent of patients with a microadenoma and 40 per cent of those with a large lesion; the rate of recurrence is 5–10 per cent. For recurrences, or for patients un?t for surgery or who refuse it, a combination of irradiation and drugs may be helpful. Deep X-ray therapy to the pituitary fossa is less e?ective than surgery but may also be helpful, and recently more sophisticated X-ray techniques, such as gamma knife irradiation, have shown promise. Drugs – such as BROMOCRIPTINE, capergoline and quiangoline, which are dopamine agonists – lower growth-hormone levels in acromegaly and are particularly useful as an adjunct to radiotherapy. Drugs which inhibit growth-hormone release by competing for its receptors, octeotride and lanreotride, also have a place in treatment.

See www.niddk.nih.gov/health/endo/pubs/ acro/acro.htm

www.umm.edu/endocrin/acromegaly.htm... acromegaly

That part of the scapula, or shoulder blade, forming the tip of the shoulder and giving its squareness to the latter. It projects forwards from the scapula, and, with the CLAVICLE or collar-bone in front, forms a protective arch of bone over the shoulder-joint.... acromion

A disorder occurring predominantly in middle-aged women in which there is numbness and tingling of the ?ngers.... acroparaesthesia

Pink disease. The term was once confined to children of teething age who were believed to be allergic to mercury in teething, worm and dusting powders, and ointments containing mercury. The term is now increasingly used for mercury poisoning in all ages, in one of its many forms: atmospheric pollution, cereal grains, fish living in polluted waters, escape of vaporised mercury from teeth fillings, cassettes, camera mechanism, etc.

Symptoms: sweat rash, photophobia (intolerance of bright light on the iris of the eye), wasting, rapid heart beat, weakness, swollen ankles, diminished reflexes.

Alternatives. Assist the liver in its task to eliminate poisons, and to cleanse the lymph system.

Adults: Gotu Kola, Sarsaparilla, German Chamomile: teas.

Young children: German Chamomile tea: sips, freely – as much as well tolerated. ... acrodynia

A rare inherited disorder in which areas of the skin (most commonly the fingers, toes, scalp, and the areas around the anus and mouth) are reddened, ulcerated, and covered with pustules. Acrodermatitis enteropathica is due to an inability to absorb enough zinc from food. Zinc supplements usually help.... acrodermatitis enteropathica

The joint that lies between the outer end of the clavicle (collarbone) and the acromion (the bony prominence at the top of the scapula (shoulderblade).... acromioclavicular joint

n. a chromosome in which the *centromere is situated at or very near one end. —acrocentric adj.... acrocentric

n. any one of a group of related inherited disorders, including *Apert syndrome, resulting in abnormalities of the skull (*craniosynostosis), face, and hands and feet (*syndactyly).... acrocephalosyndactyly

n. inflammation of the skin of the feet or hands. A diffuse chronic variety produces swelling and reddening of the affected areas, followed by atrophy. It is a manifestation of *Lyme disease. Acrodermatitis enteropathica is an inherited (autosomal *recessive) inability to absorb sufficient *zinc, which causes patchy sparse hair; patches of dry scaly eczematous skin on the hands, feet, scalp, and around the mouth and anogenital region; and chronic diarrhoea. Management consists of zinc supplements.... acrodermatitis

n. see thyroid acropachy.... acropachy

n. a skin disease thought to be a type of generalized *scleroderma. It also has features of *Raynaud’s disease, with the hands, face, and feet being mainly affected.... acrosclerosis

n. the caplike structure on the front end of a spermatozoon. It breaks down just before fertilization (the acrosome reaction), releasing a number of enzymes that assist penetration between the follicle cells that still surround the ovum. Failure of the acrosome reaction is a cause of male infertility (see also andrology).... acrosome

a rarely seen but well-documented alteration in the shape of the nails resembling *clubbing but unique to Graves’ disease (see thyrotoxicosis). It is often associated with formation of new bone seen on X-rays of the hands and wrists, which is said to resemble bubbles along the surface of the bones.... thyroid acropachy