What is the cause of high prolactin levels?

You must know what pituitary prolactin is. This is actually the well-known prolactin. The human pituitary gland secretes this hormone. Once a woman becomes pregnant, the pituitary gland secretes more prolactin, especially during the lactation period. The secretion of this hormone will become very vigorous, which can stimulate the female breasts to secrete milk and promote the development of the breast. It can be seen from this that pituitary prolactin is very important for women, especially for women of childbearing age, it plays an important regulatory role. However, the more pituitary prolactin is secreted, the better. If the pituitary prolactin content is too high, it will also endanger health. So what is the cause of high pituitary prolactin?

Causes of elevated prolactin:

There are many causes of high pituitary prolactin, which can be roughly divided into the following categories: 1. Hypothalamic disorders Diseases of the hypothalamus and adjacent parts, such as encephalitis, craniopharyngeal tumor, pineal tumor, partial hypothalamic infarction, pseudotumor cerebri, pituitary stalk resection, etc., can cause a decrease in the prolactin-inhibiting factor produced by the hypothalamus, or an increase in prolactin-releasing factor and thyroid-stimulating hormone-releasing factor. The former can cause prolactin to be produced blindly due to the loss of inhibition, while the latter two directly promote the increase of prolactin production. Among hypothalamic disorders, there is a relatively common "postpartum galactorrhea-amenorrhea syndrome", which is characterized by persistent galactorrhea after stopping breastfeeding for more than half a year, and is often accompanied by amenorrhea and uterine and ovarian atrophy. People with this disease often experience delayed development of secondary sexual characteristics and irregular menstruation during puberty.

2. Pituitary disorders are mainly various tumors in the pituitary area. In addition, some cases of empty sella syndrome and hyperpituitarism can also cause galactorrhea and amenorrhea.

3. Primary hypothyroidism The thyroid gland and breast, one in the neck and the other in the chest, seem to be two unrelated organs, but in fact the endocrine relationship between the two is very close. When the thyroid gland is hypothyroid, the information about insufficient thyroid secretion is transmitted to the hypothalamus through feedback, causing the hypothalamus to produce a large amount of thyrotropin-releasing factor. This factor, while stimulating the pituitary gland to secrete thyroid-stimulating hormone, can also stimulate the excessive secretion of pituitary prolactin and cause galactorrhea.

4. Drug factors: Sedatives that act on the central nervous system, such as chlorpromazine and morphine, can reduce the content of catecholamines in the hypothalamus, thereby reducing the activity of prolactin-releasing factor produced by the hypothalamus; antihypertensive drugs such as methyldopa and reserpine can inhibit the release of prolactin-inhibiting factor; metoclopramide can stimulate excessive secretion of pituitary prolactin.

5. Nerve stimulation: Irritation of certain parts of the skin, especially the chest, including severe pain caused by peripheral nerve damage, can be transmitted to the hypothalamus through nerves and cause an increase in prolactin. Such as chest surgery, burns, shingles on the chest and back, etc. In addition, frequent stimulation of the breasts, such as chronic breast abscesses and cystic breast tumors, especially those that allow children to suck on the nipples frequently, can also cause endocrine control disorders due to long-term nerve stimulation, leading to galactorrhea. This symptom may also occur in people with spinal cord diseases and hysterectomies. There are many other factors. For example, patients with adrenal tumors, adrenal adenomas, and bronchial lung cancer may produce non-pituitary prolactin at the lesion site. Severe mental trauma and obvious changes in lifestyle habits can also cause temporary galactorrhea. However, about 30-40% of patients with galactorrhea cannot find out the cause, which can only be collectively referred to as "unexplained galactorrhea."