Prevalence and Incidence of Gigantism
Gigantism Prevalence: Book Excerpts
Prevalence/Incidence of Gigantism: Online Medical Books
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Acromegaly and gigantism:
Causes and incidence
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))
Typically, oversecretion of human growth hormone (hGH) produces changes throughout the body, resulting in acromegaly and, when oversecretion occurs before puberty, gigantism. Eosinophilic or mixed-cell adenomas of the anterior pituitary gland may cause this oversecretion but the etiology of the tumors themselves remains unclear. Occasionally, hGH levels are elevated in more than one family member, which suggests the possibility of a genetic cause.
The earliest clinical manifestations of acromegaly include soft-tissue swelling of the extremities and coarsening of facial features. This rare form of hyperpituitarism occurs equally among males and females, usually between ages 30 and 50. Annually, it affects 3 to 4 people per every million.
In gigantism, proportional overgrowth of all body tissues starts before epiphyseal closure. This causes remarkable height increases of as much as 6"(15 cm) per year. Gigantism affects infants and children, causing them to attain as much as three times the normal height for their age. As adults, they may ultimately reach a height of more than 80"(203 cm). Gigantism is rare; there have only been 100 reported cases.
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Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
About prevalence and incidence statistics:
The term 'prevalence' of Gigantism usually refers to the estimated population
of people who are managing Gigantism at any given time.
The term 'incidence' of Gigantism refers to the annual diagnosis rate,
or the number of new cases of Gigantism diagnosed each year.
Hence, these two statistics types can differ:
a short-lived disease like flu can have high annual incidence but low prevalence,
but a life-long disease like diabetes has a low annual incidence but high prevalence.
For more information see about prevalence and incidence statistics.
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