Adrenial Gland Tumors

Pheochromocytoma occurs in the center of the adrenal gland. Your adrenal glands sit right above both your kidneys (you have two adrenal glands). Pheochromocytoma causes your body to produce more hormones than normal, causing your blood pressure to rise. Commonly producing in middle-aged people, however, pheochromocytoma tumors may develop at any age. The pheochromocytoma is a benign (non-cancerous) tumor that may be life threatening if not diagnosed at an early stage.

Causes

• Researches do know the cause of the tumor. It occurs in body cells called chromaffin cells (in the adrenal glands). To help maintain a low blood pressure, try to avoid eating foods with large amounts of tyramine, and avoid medications or drugs that will heighten your blood pressure.

Diagnosis

• A blood and urine test may be conducted to reveal the amount of hormones in your system, which in turn helps determine if you have an adrenal tumor. Other tests your doctor may conduct are scans to detect the tumor itself. And in some cases, genetic testing to find your tumor.

Symptoms

• Symptoms of this rare tumor may include the following: profound sweating, abdominal pain, pale skin, high blood pressure and forceful heartbeat. The symptoms of this type of tumor occur because the tumor creates too much catecholamine, a type of hormone that causes your body's blood pleasure to excel.

Treatments

• In most cases, your doctor may prescribe medications to lower your blood pressure. Surgical treatment is the preferred method for successfully treating of adrenal tumors. A few other treatments that may help your quality of life with a pheochromacytoma tumor are alpha blockers and beta blockers for heart beat regulation and high blood pressure. The earlier the tumor is found and treated, the better.

Complications

• The longer infected, the worse the damage to your body will be. Any pressure on your artery walls can cause serious damage to your vital organs. Try to keep your blood pressure low to keep from further damage to your body itself.

Diagnosis

• A blood and urine test may be conducted to reveal great amounts of hormones in your system to help verify if you have this type of tumor. Other tests your doctor may conduct are scans to detect the tumor itself, and maybe genetics testing to find your tumor.