Marisa Wexler, MS,  senior science writer—

A five-week, low-calorie ketogenic diet led to weight loss and reduced blood pressure in people with Cushing’s disease in a small study. The diet also lowered blood levels of cholesterol and other fatty molecules, but did not alter cortisol levels, which are typically elevated in Cushing’s patients. Findings were…

Corcept Therapeutics is expecting to earn nearly $500 million in revenue this year, which is due in large part to the increased recognition of Cushing’s syndrome, the company noted in a recent corporate update. Corcept, which markets Korlym (mifepristone) — a therapy approved to control high blood sugar in…

People with Cushing’s disease have differences in brain activity that significantly associate with the severity of cognitive and mental health symptoms, implying such changes in brain activity may give rise to these symptoms. That’s according to the recent study “Dynamic functional connectivity changes associated with psychiatric traits and…

Cushing’s disease caused by Crooke cell adenoma — a rare but typically more aggressive pituitary tumor — is less likely than forms of the disease associated with other types of pituitary tumors to go into remission in the months following surgery. This is true despite the fact that surgery…

A woman developed Cushing syndrome after four months of taking supplements that contained a steroid, which she was not aware of because the supplement did not mention it on its label, according to a case report. “This case highlights the importance of educating patients to exercise caution when purchasing health…

Despite repeatedly testing negative for high cortisol levels on standard lab tests, a woman in her 30s was found to have Cushing’s syndrome after undergoing a specialized blood analysis. That test allowed doctors to measure the levels of the hormone cortisol — too much of which is a hallmark of…

A diagnostic test utilizing desmopressin, an artificial form of a hormone that’s used to control excessive thirst and urination and prevent dehydration, can help to accurately identify Cushing’s disease, a new study reports. The study, “Enhancing Cushing’s disease diagnosis: exploring the impact of desmopressin on ACTH…

Young people with Cushing’s disease who have low bone density also tend to have low levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a signaling molecule that’s known to play key roles in bone development, a new study shows. “Our study found that a higher IGF-1 index was independently and significantly…

A woman who developed Cushing’s syndrome as a complication of kidney cancer saw her symptoms fully resolve after the tumor was surgically removed. This is the first published account that definitively describes Cushing’s syndrome developing as a paraneoplastic (cancer-related) complication of this type of cancer and resolving after its removal,…

An imaging abnormality that makes it harder for clinicians to visualize the brain’s pituitary gland can complicate efforts to diagnose and manage Cushing’s disease, a recent report highlights. The abnormality affects the bony compartment that houses the pituitary gland, making “visual diagnosis of pituitary adenoma [benign tumors] even more…