A pituitary tumor is an abnormal growth on the pituitary gland, a small organ about the size of a pea located in the center of the head above the back of the nose. Essiac, one of several natural remedies, has been shown to be effective in shrinking tumors, and should be tried before the more dangerous approaches from modern medicine.

The purpose of the pituitary is to make hormones that affect the growth and functioning of other glands of the body. Most pituitary tumors are benign, meaning they are non-cancerous and do not spread to other parts of the body.

Since the pituitary generates hormones, a tumor of the pituitary can generate too many hormones. If so, it is called a "functioning" tumor; if not it is a  non-functioning tumor. A functioning tumor can create various symptoms depending on the hormone emitted. Since the pituitary regulates the functioning of the body, a functioning tumor can cause regulation to go haywire. For example, hands, feet and face can become much larger than normal. Breasts can make milk without pregnancy. Infertility, loss of menstrual cycle, growth, high blood pressure, and other abnormal body changes are possible. The symptoms depend on what part of the pituitary is affected and the type of tumor, and symptoms can resemble other diseases.

The most common type of tumor is an "endocrine inactive tumor" which destroys hormone producing cells, causing the pituitary to be under active. This can lead to loss of sexual function, and failure of menstrual production.

Of the various conventional remedies available, this website promotes Alternative Medicine approaches. For example, Essiac is an herbal remedy shown capable of shrinking tumors, and it might be a good remedy to start with before more dangerous modern approaches which include surgery, radiation, hormone replacement therapy, and medicine. Modern medicine does not know what causes these tumors, but Alternative Medicine may have the answer; see the links below.