The pituitary gland in the body produces prolactin, which is essentially a peptide hormone that plays a very important part in the development of breasts in women during pregnancy and in lactation. The normal levels of prolactin in women are less than 500mlU/L and less than 450mlU/L in the case of men. When the levels of the prolactin hormone in the blood become abnormally high, the condition is known as hyperprolactinemia.
The condition of hyperprolactinemia is normal when the woman is pregnant or is breastfeeding. The condition can also occur due to use of certain medications and sometimes due to disease. Hyperprolactinaemia can affect both men and women causing problems such as irregular periods and the unconstrained production and flow of milk in women and erectile dysfunction, infertility, hypogonadism in men.
The pituitary gland in the body produces prolactin, which is essentially a peptide hormone that plays a very important part in the development of breasts in women during pregnancy and in lactation. The normal levels of prolactin in women are less than 500mlU/L and less than 450mlU/L in the case of men. When the levels of the prolactin hormone in the blood become abnormally high, the condition is known as hyperprolactinemia.
The condition of hyperprolactinemia is normal when the woman is pregnant or is breastfeeding. The condition can also occur due to use of certain medications and sometimes due to disease. Hyperprolactinaemia can affect both men and women causing problems such as irregular periods and the unconstrained production and flow of milk in women and erectile dysfunction, infertility, hypogonadism in men.
Some of the symptoms of hyperprolactinemia in women include:
In men, the symptoms include:
Both men and women may have headaches which may be caused due to a tumor or prolactinoma in the pituitary gland or due to changes in the vision.
The causes of hyperprolactinemia are:
Some of the symptoms of hyperprolactinemia in women include:
In men, the symptoms include:
Both men and women may have headaches which may be caused due to a tumor or prolactinoma in the pituitary gland or due to changes in the vision.
The causes of hyperprolactinemia are: