MAN LEADS HEALTH CAMPAIGN; GLAND TUMORS STRIKE MANY.

Byline: Victoria Giraud Special to the Daily News

When Robert Knutzen was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor in 1990, it changed his life more than just medically.

After the tumor was surgically removed, he researched the subject and found that about 22 percent of the world's adult population develop pituitary tumors.

Soon Knutzen and three others founded the Pituitary Tumor Network Association in 1992, an organization he now heads.

For the past several years, Knutzen has devoted his time to disseminating information about pituitary diseases via the quarterly PTNA newsletter, an information line in his home and a Web site (www.pituitary.com) that receives so many visits that it's occasionally crashed from the high demand.

``Until about three years ago, I thought that life was a confused mess,'' Knutzen said. ``Now the road is clear as an arrow, and I know why I've traveled on it, and know who I am.''

Knutzen is asked to speak at medical and pharmaceutical conventions about pituitary disease, although he admits he's ``not a medical person.'' He points out, however, ``I know about information and about people.''

The pituitary, an endocrine gland at the base of the brain, controls many body functions such as sexuality, lactation, growth, skin pigmentation, urinary output and thyroid regulation. As recently as 25 years ago, doctors knew little about the manifestations of its dysfunctions, Knutzen said.

When Knutzen was born in Norway, his mother was concerned over the size of his large hands, but the doctor said he would grow into them. Looking back, he thinks he may have had a predisposition to agromegaly, the production of excess growth hormones. As he grew older, his pituitary tumor caused a variety of symptoms: joint pain, rapid weight gain, tendency to sweat profusely, and fingers that were growing so large that he needed to have his rings cut off.

Although doctors told him, ``You're getting old, you know,'' Knutzen wasn't satisfied with the diagnosis. When his wife changed health insurance and he needed a physical, he got lucky.

``A new physician took one look at me,'' Knutzen remembered. ``He told me he thought he knew what was wrong with me.''

An MRI confirmed the small tumor, and Dr. Shlomo Melmed, a pituitary expert at Cedars Sinai removed it. ``It stopped the symptoms, but there's no reversing the disease.''

Writing his special message in each PTNA newsletter - ``From Bob's Desk'' - comes fairly easily. At 14 in his native Norway, he was a cub reporter at a local newspaper. He joined the Merchant Marines at 16, plying the waters of the Pacific between the U.S. and the Far East on a freighter that carried a few, select passengers.

On one of these voyages, a passenger who knew the city editor recommended Knutzen further his career by seeking a job with the Los Angeles Examiner newspaper. When he took the suggestion and immigrated to the U.S. in 1956, he became a copy boy and got to know the powerful gossip maven, Louella Parsons. When the paper folded, he pursued a long career in real estate development around Los Angeles and owned a real estate brokerage firm in Malibu.

Thanks to the support of his wife, Rosemary, Knutzen, a father of four, devotes most of his time these days to PTNA. People who want to establish local PTNA chapters in countries all over the world contact him for guidance and advice.

``I never felt more alive or more vital than I do right now,'' said Knutzen. ``I'm needed, and I'm contributing.''

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PHOTO Robert Knutzen shows off the Web site for the Pituitary Tumor Network Association, which he heads.

Tina Gerson/Daily News