Medical comments from Dr. Lewis Blevins MD. Director Center for Pituitary Disorders at University California San Francisco
From the desk of Lewis Blevins, MD – There is no such thing as adrenal fatigue. Period. I’ve seen plenty of patients over my career who have been referred for this “condition.” It’s not a
From the desk of Lewis Blevins, MD – I remember, in the mid-1990s, when a paper was published indicating that food dependent hypercortisolism was due aberrant GIP receptor expression on the adrenal glands. Eating activates
Hyperplasia is a term that implies an increase in the number of normal cells in a gland or other tissue. Sometimes the cells themselves are also enlarged, or hypertrophic. Tissues can be hypertrophic without being
From the desk of Lewis S. Blevins, Jr. MD – A 52-year-old man was referred to the pituitary clinic for further evaluation of hypercortisolism. Has had an unspecified weight gain and hypertension. His blood pressure
From the desk of Lewis S. Blevins, Jr. M.D. cofounder – The regulation of aldosterone secretion is rather complex. It is a beautiful system that involves multiple steps and organs. I will try to
Mineralocorticoid Replacement Therapy From the desk of Lewis S. Blevins Jr., M.D. – Treatment of partial and complete aldosterone deficiency seems to be an arena where inexperienced physicians miss the mark more often than not.
I first learned of this condition in 1990 during my fellowship training in endocrinology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. I
A few highlights: Cushing syndrome refers to the classical appearance of hypercortisolism as described by Dr. Harvey Cushing. Many patients with hypercortisolism or pathologic cortisol secretion do not appear cushingoid but instead have one or
From Dr. Lewis Blevins. What constitutes a normal test result? In most endocrine assays, it is a population of supposedly normal individuals that defines the upper and lower limits of normal. Take the mean, and
From Dr. Lewis Blevins. There is a lot of confusion as to what constitutes a replacement dose of a steroid hormone for patients with hypopituitarism. The textbooks are wrong and, if we took doses they
From Lewis S Blevins Jr, MD – I define hypopituitarism as the partial or the complete deficiency of one or more anterior pituitary hormones. As a result of how this all works, patients can have
From Lewis S. Blevins Jr, MD – One of the greatest challenges facing medical practitioners is in the recognition and diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome and disease. As if this not sufficiently difficult, an even greater
From Lewis Blevins, MD – The pituitary gland secretes ACTH that in turn drives cortisol production by the adrenal glands. ACTH secretion is determined by ambient cortisol levels, which inhibit ACTH production and secretion, and