WHEN your pituitary gland plays up, you can be in trouble.

It is only as big as a pea, just below the brain, but it is a master gland to run the whole show.

It can affect thirst and hunger, body temperature, growth, metabolism, weight control, stress response, sexual characteristics and libido, even fertility and lactation.

When things go wrong symptoms can be hard to diagnose.

Few people know much about the pituitary gland, and most don't need to.

But three people in Hay-on-Wye found out about it the hard way.

They live within a three-mile radius of each other and learned about their pituitary problems by word of mouth.

In dealing with their illnesses, Niven Jenkins, Rob Lally and Anita Evans all got to know about the Pituitary Foundation, a charity which supports patients and their families and works hard to raise awareness of the condition through the medical profession.

All three say the charity, fondly known as PitPat, has been invaluable in helping them cope during devastating changes in their lives.

They wanted PitPat to remain and play an even more important role in raising the profile of pituitary problems and decided the best way to do it was to raise money to support the charity.

Niven, Rob and Anita organised a community evening at Summerhill Golf Club at Hay, with a buffet, disco, raffle and auction, and it seems a large part of the population turned up.

They raised £4,193 and the money has already been donated to PitPat at their Bristol office.

And Anita is so impressed with their work she has become a telephone 'buddy' on their helpline, 0845 450 0375.