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⁶Hello. I'm confused and still looking for answers. I'm a 47 year old female. Let me give you a little health history of me. Sorry it's kinda long. I had VSD, ventricular septum repair, at age 2.5 . Was in/out the hospital up to this for congestive heart failure. As a child I caught every round of the flu and strep throat every year. Was always on antibiotics for strep. The doctor we had then always talked about taking my tonsils but it never happened. I had chicken pox 2 times, once was very minor at a young age the second was as a teen so bad I had them down my throat with hallucinations high fever. I had measles once. Constantly had croup. As an infant I was allergic to dairy. My mom raised me on goat milk. I guess I grew out of it, I drink milk eat cheese ect with no problems now that I know of. As a teen I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia. Was told to watch my diet and if needed, have a shaking fit, to eat a Hershey's bar and drink a glass of OJ. If not I would end up going full diabetic. These periods of low blood sugar, shaking fits happen off and on still. Never been rechecked into. My biological father died from renal carcinoma in his early 40's my early 20's. Then I had emergency diverticulitis surgery. I spent a week in the hospital due to them not taking care of my hypoglycemia. I had a "fit" and they accused me of being a drug addict. Being diagnosed as having fibromyalgia helped me with medical bills and testing. They couldn't explain my pains and issues so they doctor decided on fibromyalgia to get me a diagnosis. Also I had a bout of what the ER doctor decided was 5ths disease. I was in my late 20's. All my joints swelled up and bruised visibly with green and brown bruises. I had large welted and small bumpy rash all over my body along with a 100° temp. I spent a week in the hospital being tested for everything under the sun; lyme disease, all STDs, and more. Later on in my life I had carpal tunnel syndrome surgery on both wrists along with trigger finger surgery on my left thumb. Also a ganglion cyst removed from my foot. Lasik surgery on both of my eyes. My vision still isn't per perfect. Seems to be getting worse. Also I have had chronic kidney stones since my early 20's. Lately they are not causing me too many problems. I have been hospitalized 3 times for them. Mostly I just try to wash them out fast with fluids. I have recently begun a process to identify my stomach issues. They think I have IBD but not sure as this whole pandemic put everything on hold. Also I'm waiting to be rechecked for my heart. I have had a heart murmur all my life. My mom was told that it appeared to be a stitch that didnt take in my surgery. Since medical has gotten better it was recently discovered that I have had a hole in the upper chambers too that wasn't fixed. My current heart doctor was going to fix it but my blood pressure was too high for no real reason. I'm on 3 different pills for my blood pressure with no really definable effects. It has come down a bit but still high. So we are keeping an eye on my heart with echos. Still waiting to get back into all this, waiting on this pandemic to settle down or.. Looking at the drawing with all the symptoms it looks like me, a big over weight belly and I feel like a hump back. My weight is just going up and up. I feel like I'm carrying a 50 lb weight all the time. Making it hard to breath too. Few years back I fell and dislocated my elbow into a T and jarring my shoulder and wrist. Now I have shoulder issues with deterioration of the socket and muscles. Yes some of my issues are self inflicted, hazards of life. The rest is just me. My mother and niece both have empty pituitary cells. My sister has Arnold Chiari Malformation and has surgery for it. My brother was born with a cleph palette, no hair lip. He had surgery to repair it by adding the roof of his mouth. He had expanding braces as a child but no issues as an adult. My sisters twins, girls, are both autistic on the spectrum, one more so then the other. Also one of my brother's sons is autistic on the spectrum. My grand parents, on both sides, all had medical issues too. My main question is does this even come close to sounding like any reasons to be checked for Cushing's syndrome..? Thanks for your time and sorry it's so long.
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People with high cortisol levels have lower muscle mass and higher visceral fat deposits, putting them at a greater risk for cardiovascular disease, new research shows. High levels of cortisol can result from a variety of reasons, including Cushing’s disease and adrenal tumors. Most adrenal tumors are found to be non-functioning, meaning they do not produce excess hormones. However, up to 47 percent of patients have mild autonomous cortisol excess (MACE). The study, “Impact of hypercortisolism on skeletal muscle mass and adipose tissue mass in patients with adrenal adenomas,” was published in the journal Clinical Endocrinology. Long-term studies have shown that as a group, patients with MACE tend to have increased cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2), obesity, and high lipid levels, which are associated with higher cardiovascular death rates. Abdominal adiposity, which refers to fat deposits around the abdomen and stomach, and central sarcopenia, referring to loss of skeletal muscle mass, are both known to be linked to higher cardiovascular risk and increased mortality. Overt hypercortisolism is known to lead to increased visceral adiposity (body fat stored within the abdominal cavity) and muscle loss. However, little is known about the body composition of patients with adrenal adenomas and MACE. Therefore, researchers set out to determine whether central sarcopenia and adiposity are present in patients with MACE, and whether they can be markers of disease severity in patients with adrenal adenomas. To determine this, researchers used body composition measurements of 25 patients with Cushing’s disease, 48 patients with MACE, and 32 patients with non-functioning adrenal tumors (NFAT) using abdominal CTs. Specifically, researchers looked at visceral fat, subcutaneous fat, and total abdominal muscle mass. Visceral fat refers to fat around organs, and it is “deeper” than subcutaneous fat, which is closer to the skin. Results showed that, compared to patients with non-functional tumors, those with Cushing’s disease had a higher visceral to total (V/T) fat ratio but a lower visceral to subcutaneous (V/S) fat ratio. In MACE patients, however, both ratios were decreased compared to patients with non-functional tumors. Cushing’s disease patients also had 10 cm2 less total muscle mass, compared to patients with non-functional tumors. An overnight dexamethasone suppression test was conducted in these patients to determine levels of cortisol in the blood. The next morning, cortisol levels were checked. High levels of cortisol indicate the presence of a disease, such as MACE or Cushing’s disease. After administering the test, researchers determined that for an increase in cortisol in the morning, there was a correlating increase in the V/T ratio and the V/S fat ratio, and a decrease in the mean total muscle mass. Therefore, the higher the degree of hypercortisolism, the lower the muscle mass and the higher the visceral adiposity. These results could prove to be clinically useful as both visceral adiposity and low muscle mass are risk factors of a number of diseases, including cardiovascular disease. “Body composition measurement may provide an additive value in making a diagnosis of clinically important MACE and aid in individualizing management of patients with ACAs and MACE,” the researchers concluded. From https://cushieblog.com/2017/12/01/high-cortisol-levels-as-seen-in-cushings-can-lead-to-greater-risk-of-heart-disease-study-finds/
