Is a parathyroid adenoma living tissue?
October 16, 2020 6:41 AM Subscribe
I've been very unfortunately diagnosed with normcalcemic primary hyperparathyroidism and so have found myself researching every aspect of this disease. Am looking to under the nature of the parathyroid adenoma - how is grows, why it grows, is it parasitic? fungal? bacterial? Is it living tissue?
Can anyone answer these questions? TIA!
An adenoma is a benign tumor, which means it is made of the cells of the parathyroid, which are no longer growing and dividing in the way they ought to. There are many possible reasons for this including radiation exposure, but it's also something that just... happens sometimes.
Every time a cell divides, it copies its DNA. Sometimes the copies are slightly wrong. Radiation and other factors can increase the chances of these wrong copies. Usually the cells with the wrong copies don't work at all, so they just die and don't keep dividing. Occasionally they work juuust well enough to keep dividing, but not well enough to actually work the way they're supposed to.
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:54 AM on October 16, 2020 [4 favorites]
Every time a cell divides, it copies its DNA. Sometimes the copies are slightly wrong. Radiation and other factors can increase the chances of these wrong copies. Usually the cells with the wrong copies don't work at all, so they just die and don't keep dividing. Occasionally they work juuust well enough to keep dividing, but not well enough to actually work the way they're supposed to.
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:54 AM on October 16, 2020 [4 favorites]
Yep. Your doctors can monitor its status by checking your calcium and PTH levels in your bloodwork, so it's good to get that checked periodically as requested. When the lab results are significantly elevated, like around 12 or so for the calcium, you may feel some fatigue, foggyheadedness, and perhaps nausea.
In cases where the condition is advanced, you may need an outpatient surgery called a parathyroidectomy to resolve the issue. Though this requires full anesthesia, the recovery process is typically quite straightforward and you have to rest at home for a few days. Afterward, patients typically take over-the-counter calcium and vitamin D supplements for a period of time as your blood chemistry stabilizes. Memail me if I can help with questions about this procedure.
posted by mochapickle at 7:17 AM on October 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
In cases where the condition is advanced, you may need an outpatient surgery called a parathyroidectomy to resolve the issue. Though this requires full anesthesia, the recovery process is typically quite straightforward and you have to rest at home for a few days. Afterward, patients typically take over-the-counter calcium and vitamin D supplements for a period of time as your blood chemistry stabilizes. Memail me if I can help with questions about this procedure.
posted by mochapickle at 7:17 AM on October 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
I had two overactive parathyroid glands removed a few years ago; I don't know whether they had adenomas or not. The surgery itself was not a big deal - a quick procedure under general anesthesia that left a scar across my neck. The incision was made in a naturally-occurring crease so the scar hardly shows. But I needed to spend the night in the hospital after the surgery so they could keep an eye on my serum calcium to ensure it stabilized. Although I felt fine in the following days, I was told to stay away from the gym since sweat typically runs down the neck and risks infecting the incision.
Keep in mind, though, that the parathyroids regulate the amount of calcium in your blood versus your bones. So while those glands are overactive, they are leaching calcium from your bones and potentially causing osteopenia or osteoporosis. Depending on your risk for these bone-thinning conditions, you may want to factor this into your decision about when/if to have surgery.
posted by DrGail at 8:16 AM on October 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
Keep in mind, though, that the parathyroids regulate the amount of calcium in your blood versus your bones. So while those glands are overactive, they are leaching calcium from your bones and potentially causing osteopenia or osteoporosis. Depending on your risk for these bone-thinning conditions, you may want to factor this into your decision about when/if to have surgery.
posted by DrGail at 8:16 AM on October 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
As a fellow member of Team Get That Thing Outta My Neck!, would it help if I reassured you that:
Still, I was shitting bricks four years ago when exactly the wrong kind of cells were showing up in my thyroid. Those wrong kind of cells are still there in what's left of the left side of my thyroid (which works fine but is a bit of a chonker), but my massively enlarged right side thyroid lobe was removed two years ago because it was interfering with bodily functions.
Memail me if you've got more questions. It's scary, but you'll find lots of people who have been through this.
posted by scruss at 9:45 AM on October 16, 2020 [2 favorites]
- parathyroid and thyroid monitoring is really well understood: they change state slowly, changes in size/composition are easily monitored via ultrasound and/or fine needle biopsy, and changes in function show up readily in bloodwork; and
- surgery is absolutely routine, as the thyroid and parathyroids are obligingly placed in a very accessible location
Still, I was shitting bricks four years ago when exactly the wrong kind of cells were showing up in my thyroid. Those wrong kind of cells are still there in what's left of the left side of my thyroid (which works fine but is a bit of a chonker), but my massively enlarged right side thyroid lobe was removed two years ago because it was interfering with bodily functions.
Memail me if you've got more questions. It's scary, but you'll find lots of people who have been through this.
posted by scruss at 9:45 AM on October 16, 2020 [2 favorites]
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posted by exogenous at 6:51 AM on October 16, 2020 [2 favorites]