A Atuação da Podologia na Melhoria da Qualidade de Vida dos Pacientes com Acromegalia e Gigantismo

Abstract

Acromegaly and gigantism are rare diseases, caused by benign pituitary tumors, which release excessive growth hormone. It is called gigantism when the pathology appears until puberty, and acromegaly when it occurs in adulthood, without distinction between genders. Patients with these diseases live with impacting physical changes such as increased extremities, especially the feet, which affects almost 100% of patients, and the concomitant associated systemic diseases are mainly arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus, increasing the degree of morbidity and mortality. Diabetes can also lead to a recurrent complication, which is the diabetic foot, increasing the risk of amputations in these individuals. Multidisciplinary teams are highlighted to treat acromegalic patients and, in this study, the objective is to highlight the role of the podiatrist as a qualified professional to work in the analysis and care of the feet, promoting their health, and helping their well-being in society. literary review article and qualitative character, a bibliographical study is carried out on how Podology helps in the quality of life of patients with acromegaly and gigantism. The results suggest that podiatry is essential in the anamnesis and clinical examinations of the feet, as it is done judiciously, allowing the podiatrist to be able to detect diseases through details that go unnoticed by other health professionals, and make the referral to the specialist, as well as treating all foot conditions in these patients, managing risky feet and helping to prevent complications of associated podopathies.