Acromegaly is a a hormonal disorder that most commonly occurs in middle-aged men and women. The prevalence of acromegaly is approximately 4,676 cases per million population, and the incidence is 116.9 new cases per million per year. The name "acromegaly" comes from the Greek words for "extremities" (acro) and "great" (megaly), because one of the most common symptoms of this condition is abnormal growth of the hands and feet.
Famous acromegaly sufferers included De-Fen Yao, Sandy Allen and Tanya Angus. May they all rest in peace.
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly! One of the things that I would add to your definition is that acromegaly is actually caused by a benign (non-cancerous) tumor in the pituitary gland. Acromegaly can actually be treated in a couple of ways, including surgically removing the tumor or via medications that are specifically designed to treat the disease.
Danielle who suffers from acromegaly writes: A couple of site that I've found to be really great resources are:
- www.acromegalycommunity.com (active community/blog run by Wayne Brown)
- acromegalybloggers.blogspot.com/ (blog contributed by a collection of acromegalics)
- www.somatulinedepot.com/ (treatment information for those taking somatuline)
- www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/acromegaly/acromegaly-surgery (great source for information regarding pituitary adenoma surgery for acromegaly)