Tom,

 

To get more information, try Pub-Med, a service of the National Lib of Med.  Here is the URL that will get you to the abstract below.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12174243&dopt=Abstract

 

Type the appropriate words in the search box, and you will find even more stuff.  Or hit the "Related Articles" link at the top of the right hand corner.  Pub-Med will usually just give you abstracts (synopses) of articles.  To see the fulll articles, you’ll have to visit a medical library, but you can usually get enough information to get the gist of things.

 

Another good site is emedicine.com.  There is a good article on PHA at http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic1931.htm .  You have to register first, but it’s free.  Let me know if you have trouble finding the article, and I can copy it for you, if you’d like.

 

Also, regarding what you were wondering about receptors:  Hormones are essentially chemical messengers that are produced in one part of the body, then travel through the bloodstream to affect the activity of cells and organs in other parts of the body.  Receptors are essentially the cells that "receive" the message delivered by the hormones. So, for the system to work properly, you have to have both hormones and receptors....kind of like a "lock and key" situation.

 

Perhaps what your doctor meant about PHA about having to do with a receptor problem is that someone with PHA can actually produce aldosterone, but cannot "receive" it properly.  (Hence the "pseudo" part of the name.) While someone with PA can’t produce enough aldosterone.  (Just a GUESS, however, so PLEASE do not quote me on that!!)

 

Anyway, enough blabbing.  Good luck and hope this opens up some more sources of information for you. 

 

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1: Saudi Med J 2002 Jul;23(7):863-5

Related Articles,[unauthorised script deleted] language=JavaScript1.2> Links

Salt losing nephropathy simulating congenital adrenal hyperplasia in an infant.

Kari JA, Bamashmous HA, Al-Agha AE, Mosli HA.

Pediatrics Department, King Abdul-Aziz University Hospital, PO Box 80215, Jeddah 21589, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. jkari@doctors.org.uk

Pseudo-hypoaldosteronism occurring predominately in male infants has been reported in association with a spectrum of urologic diseases including obstructive uropathy. This is thought to reflect tubule unresponsiveness to aldosterone. We report a case, which was misdiagnosed as a case of congenital adrenal hyperplasia and treated inappropriately with hydrocortisone and fludrocortisone for 12-months before he had a urinary tract infection and was discovered to have obstructive uropathy on ultrasound. He presented with vomiting, dehydration, hyperkalemia, hyponatremia and metabolic acidosis. His initial 17 hydroxyprogestrone was high. His electrolytes improved to normal after relieving the obstruction by vesicostomy and his treatment weaned slowly without complications. This case demonstrates the importance of urine culture and ultrasound examination in suspected cases of pseudo-hypoaldosteronism.

PMID: 12174243 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]