Skip Martin, age 10, of Youngstown, Ohio, for his question:
WHERE IS THE PITUITARY GLAND?
The pituitary gland, which is actually the master gland of the entire human body, is located almost at the center of the skull and hangs from the base of the brain.
The pituitary gland controls the activities of other glands. It makes and then releases the hormones or chemical substances that stimulate the adrenal glands, the thyroid gland and the sex glands.
Also known as the hypophysis, the pituitary gland has three important parts: the anterior lobe in the front, the intermediate or middle part and the posterior lobe or rear part.
Perhaps the most important job the anterior lobe must handle is to stimulate growth. If the lobe is diseased or removed in youth, a child will not grow properly. The bones of the body do not become longer as in normal growth and there is little increase in body weight.
Sometimes the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland is too active in youth. When this happens, a young person could grow too much and become a giant. If the gland becomes too active in later life, the jaw, nose and hands might become enlarged.
When the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland is injured, the kidneys cannot keep back the proper amount of water and excessive urine is formed. This causes a disease called diabetes insipidus. The person with this problem becomes very thirsty.
Abnormalities and diseases caused by the pituitary are treated in patients by doctors who give an extract of the gland where there is a shortage. If there is too much activity by the gland, doctors use either surgery or X ray treatments.
The pituitary gland is only about a third of an inch in diameter.
The hormone ACTH is produced in the body and stored in the pituitary gland. The name is an abbreviation of adreno corticotropic hormone. It stimulates the outer portion of the adrenal gland to produce and discharge cortisone into the blood.
If the pituitary gland is removed, no ACTH can reach the adrenal cortex. Then the adrenal gland becomes less active and shrinks.
A fine balance is maintained between the pituitary and adrenal glands. The hormones of one stimulate those of the other to action.
Scientists first isolated ACTH in 1943. Medical men have discovered that it is useful in treating certain diseases and inflammatory conditions.
The chief sources for ACTH are the pituitary glands of slaughtered animals. Scientists working in Basel, Switzerland, made ACTH synthetically for the first time in 1963.