Keara Williams
Carol Ann Jenkins
Master Student
22 April 2008
Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 1
When some children are born, they have a disorder that is passed from one parent or both through the genes that are the basis for their being alive. These diseases are called genetic disorders. Some of these disorders are rare and don’t have a cure. One such disease or disorder is Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 1, or MEN1. I will explain what this disorder is and what body systems it affects.
MEN1 is a relatively uncommon inherited disorder where less than 1 person in 20,000 will carry the gene. It is passed down in families from 1 generation to the next and affects males and females equally, it occurs in all racial groups. This disease can be inherited if only one parent has MEN1. Diagnosis of the disease is done through genetic testing or following a patient medically over several years and seeing if the patient has symptoms of the disease.
MEN1 affects the endocrine glands: the pituitary, parathyroid, and pancreas glands that regulate different hormones that control the functions of various tissues throughout the body. Normally, the hormones released by endocrine glands ore carefully balanced to meet a body’s needs. In patients with MEN1, the endocrine glands may become overactive at the same time or throughout a lifetime. Similarly, different areas of within the endocrine glands may become overactive at different times during life. By age 30 most people who inherit MEN1 will have some type of endocrine gland overactivity. Since symptoms do not develop in many people it is important for all people at risk( families that have a person known to have the disease) to be tested for MEN1, even though they might feel fine. When there is a family history of MEN1 the way to test for the disease is through predictive genetic testing. The test can be