{"id":7249,"date":"2020-01-09T20:35:23","date_gmt":"2020-01-09T20:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/?p=7249"},"modified":"2020-01-09T21:18:04","modified_gmt":"2020-01-09T21:18:04","slug":"why-is-it-important-to-know-what-cushingsyndrome-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/why-is-it-important-to-know-what-cushingsyndrome-is\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is it important to know what Cushing syndrome is?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/GettyImages-491246660-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7250\" width=\"290\" height=\"195\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>When the body is exposed to high levels of the stress &nbsp;hormone cortisol for extended periods of time\nthis leads to a condition known as hypercortisolism, or Cushing syndrome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>High levels of cortisol in the body can occur as a result of\ningesting oral corticosteroids or the body producing too much of the hormone in\nthe adrenal glands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why would the body produce too much cortisol? It may be due\nto a tumor on the pituitary gland which leads to an over production of &nbsp;adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) that\nstimulates the adrenal glands. This is more common in women than in men.&nbsp; It can also be due to a noncancerous tumor of\nthe adrenal gland which causes an excess production of cortisol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The medications that contain steroids are used to treat\nasthma, inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus. patients who have had organ\ntransplants are also given steroids to reduce the risk of complications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Signs and symptoms of Cushing syndrome include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Weight gain<\/li><li>Buffalo hump ( fatty tissue deposits between the\nshoulders)<\/li><li>Moon face ( fatty tissue deposits in the face)<\/li><li>Thinning of the skin<\/li><li>Slow healing of wounds<\/li><li>Severe fatigue<\/li><li>Depression<\/li><li>Headache<\/li><li>Bone loss<\/li><li>Weakness<\/li><li>Acne<\/li><li>High blood sugar levels<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Diagnosing Cushing syndrome is done by several methods. A 24\nhour urine test may be performed to test levels of cortisol, a dexamethasone\nsuppression test which involves taking a low dose steroid pill at night and\nthen checking the blood levels for it in the morning, and a salivary cortisol\nlevel test which measures the level of cortisol in the saliva at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Treatment depends on the cause of the condition. If a person\nis taking in too much cortisol, it may have to be reduced. If a person is\nproducing too much cortisol, ruling out a tumor is important. It is possible to\ncure Cushing syndrome, and if a complete cure isn\u2019t possible, there are ways to\nat least control it. If you would like to schedule an appointment with a\nphysician at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, please call 718-206-7001.<\/p>\n<p class=\"disclaimer\">All content of this newsletter is intended for general information purposes only and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.  Please consult a medical professional before adopting any of the suggestions on this page.   You must never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment based upon any content of this newsletter.<strong>  PROMPTLY CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN OR CALL 911 IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY.<\/strong> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When the body is exposed to high levels of the stress &nbsp;hormone cortisol for extended periods of time this leads to a condition known as hypercortisolism, or Cushing syndrome. High levels of cortisol in the body can occur as a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/why-is-it-important-to-know-what-cushingsyndrome-is\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7249"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7252,"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7249\/revisions\/7252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamaicahospital.org\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}