The pituitary gland and osteoporosis

The pituitary gland sits at the bottom of the brain between the eyes and nose. Although very small, this gland is hugely important for the entire body, including your bones. The gland’s primary function is to control the levels of hormones created by the endocrine glands around the body. If the pituitary gland isn’t working as it should, this will have an adverse effect on the number of hormones in the body, with either too little or too many being produced. This can sometimes cause osteoporosis and increase risk of fractures. For example, a condition like Kallman syndrome will result in lower level of hormones.

Last year, our Clinical Advisor Sarah Leyland wrote an article for Pituitary Life, a magazine for those suffering with Pituitary conditions. She also filmed a Q&A video with the Pituitary Foundation and discusses what osteoporosis is, the signs of it and the links between it and pituitary and bone health. Watch the discussion below.

We were delighted to collaborate with the ROS to make this video. Pituitary conditions and their treatments can have a wide variety of symptoms and side effects and osteoporosis is a common concern for many of our callers. Sarah was so helpful and reassuring and offered practical solutions to help prevent bone deterioration. If anyone is concerned that they may have a pituitary condition, our services are available for free throughout the UK. There is loads of useful information on our website https://pituitary.org.uk/ or you can call our helpline on 0117 370 1320 as a good starting point. Thank you to Sarah and the ROS for reaching out to us! – Miranda Payne, Communications and Projects Officer