If you or somebody close to you has recently been diagnosed with McCune-Albright syndrome (MAS), it’s essential to discover your options when it comes to sourcing and going through with McCune-Albright syndrome treatment to help mitigate symptoms.
Because McCune-Albright syndrome affects different bodies in different ways, especially in the extent and severity of symptoms in the skin, skeleton, and endocrine organs. Because long-term limping, pain or bone fractures may all stem from the condition, it’s important to work closely with your healthcare provider to strategize how you’re going to approach long-term management.
The good news is that researchers are learning more about the disorder, and there are treatments available now that can minimize suffering for many of the symptoms.
McCune-Albright Syndrome Treatment Options
The two main treatments that can help to address symptoms and complications from McCune-Albright syndrome are medications to proactively negate the resulting endocrine problems, and surgery to ensure that bones aren’t adversely affecting other bones and healthy tissues surrounding them.
Medication
Your doctor may evaluate your specific symptoms and prescribe medicine that blocks excessive hormone production, or help prevent against future bone loss. While the effects of these are still undergoing further research, they are currently able to help with painful side effects from polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, which can lead to scar-like tissue forming on the bones. Medication may prove helpful with issues stemming from:
- Cushing Syndrome
- Hyperthyroidism
- Excessive Growth Hormone
- Low Blood Phosphates
- Precocious Puberty
- Bone Pain
- Bone Loss (bisphosphonates)
Surgery
Your doctor may also recommend certain surgeries that can help to support your healthy bone growth and hormone function on a more permanent basis. Some of these include:
- Uneven growth or deformed bones
- Removal of adrenal glands (may benefit symptoms from Cushing Syndrome)
- Removal of the thyroid gland (may benefit symptoms from Hyperthyroidism)
- Relieving pinched nerves to aid hearing and vision problems
Strengthening Exercises
In addition to medication and surgery, you may find benefits from specialized exercises which can help to build muscle around bones that are affected by polyostotic fibrous dysplasia. This can provide a natural cushion which helps reduce the risk of bone fractures, which are significantly more common in people suffering from McCune-Albright Syndrome.
Your Key Takeaway
Because McCune-Albright syndrome is a multisystemic condition, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to treatment. The most essential element is to properly diagnose and discover how the condition is specifically affecting your body before taking action. While many of the surgeries, medications, and exercises have proven effective as pain management and proactive support for some patients, the effectiveness of each treatment is inconsistent due to the wildly varying nature of how MAS affects each patient.
You may have to experiment with a combination of different treatments over time to see what works for you.
