Acromegaly is a rare disease and may take years to detect and diagnose.
To diagnose and monitor your acromegaly, your doctor might take blood samples and test them for the presence of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). In acromegaly, the tumor as well as the pituitary secretes growth hormone, creating abnormal levels of GH. The liver may also start producing high levels of IGF-1. This combination of these factors causes the symptoms of acromegaly. Monitoring hormone levels in the blood several times a year helps your doctor to manage your disease.
Although information about a rare disease can be difficult to find, this site offers you the information you need to begin understanding acromegaly.
What to expect during diagnosis
Once you have been diagnosed, you should make a commitment to keep all of your medical appointments so that monitoring can be done regularly and therapy can be administered effectively.
These are some of the steps your doctor may take to determine if you have acromegaly and may continue to use to monitor you after diagnosis:
*Your healthcare provider may recommend other types of treatment.
Sandostatin® LAR Depot (octreotide acetate for injectable suspension) is indicated for long-term maintenance therapy in acromegalic patients who have had an inadequate response to surgery and/or radiotherapy, or for whom surgery and/or radiotherapy is not an option. The goal of treatment in acromegaly is to reduce GH and IGF-1 levels to normal.
Important Safety Information:
As with immediate release Sandostatin® Injection, the most frequently reported drug-related adverse events were biliary disorders (52%), gastrointestinal disorders (7% to 36%), and injection-site pain (2% to 11%). Hypoglycemia (2%), hyperglycemia (15%), and hypothyroidism (2%) have been reported. While not measured in acromegalic patients receiving Sandostatin® LAR Depot, ECG changes have been reported in patients receiving immediate release Sandostatin® Injection; the degree to which these abnormalities are related to octreotide acetate is not clear, as many acromegalics have cardiovascular disease. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
