Margarida Maia, PhD,  science writer—

For a young man in Brazil, Cushing’s syndrome caused by nodules in both adrenal glands was found to be the reason for his severe osteoporosis — a condition that causes bones to weaken and become prone to fracture — according to a case report. While noting that “the diagnosis of…

People with Cushing’s disease who have been in remission for years may have an imbalance in their gut microbiome — the group of all microorganisms living in the gut — and this may be the reason why their cardiovascular risk persists, a pilot study suggests. The small study included…

An antifungal medication called ketoconazole may be safe and effective for treating Cushing’s disease when pituitary surgery to remove a disease-causing tumor has failed to lower cortisol levels in the body, according to a new meta-analysis study. Researchers found that in nearly two-thirds of cases reported in the literature,…

A high-resolution MRI outperformed other types of MRI at detecting microadenomas — small benign (noncancerous) tumors that form in the brain’s pituitary gland and can cause Cushing’s disease. In a small study from China, about four in five people with Cushing’s received a correct diagnosis of a microadenoma with…

A woman developed Cushing’s syndrome as a result of a pheochromocytoma, a usually benign non-cancerous tumor that forms in the adrenal glands above the kidneys, a case study from Portugal reports. Because it’s so rare, “this diagnosis demands a high level of clinical suspicion and should be equated in the…

A young woman developed Cushing’s disease after she received pain relief treatment for her chronic pancreatitis — a long-lasting inflammation of the pancreas — via a celiac plexus block (CPB) with a corticosteroid called triamcinolone, a U.S. report says. “Although her pain was relieved with CPB, she developed iatrogenic…

A woman who was on Korlym (mifepristone) to treat hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar levels, linked to Cushing’s disease went on to develop liver damage as a side effect of the medicine, according to a U.S. report. This is the third time such a case has been reported.

A woman developed Cushing’s syndrome five years after being diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor of the cervix, according to a report from the U.S. This is a rare type of tumor for which “the options for treatment are few and not necessarily curative,” the report’s authors wrote. “Managing the…

Not many people who are very obese have Cushing’s syndrome, but a low-dose dexamethasone test may help distinguish who has the disease from who doesn’t before weight loss surgery, a Turkish study has reported. The study, “Assessment of the diagnostic performance of the 1 mg dexamethasone suppression test in…

A young man switched his standard diet to a ketogenic, or “keto,” diet that’s low in carbohydrates and high in fats to lose weight, and saw some of his symptoms of Cushing’s disease ease, according to a new report. But he wasn’t diagnosed until his symptoms came back or…