Endocrine Abstracts

All women with early onset oestrogen deficiency have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease regardless of aetiology, be it premature ovarian failure, hypopituitarism or Turner Syndrome. The fact that oestrogen deficiency in young women increases CVD risk appears to be in conflict with the adverse effects of oestrogen replacement on cardiovascular morbidity in postmenopausal women. One explanation for this paradox is that oestrogen may slow atherogenesis in young women whi...

The importance of endogenous hormones in the aetiology of breast cancer has long been evident from the strong relationships between breast cancer risk and certain aspects of a woman’s reproductive history1. More recently, the risk of developing breast cancer among postmenopausal women has also been shown to increase substantially with increasing levels of circulating oestradiol2, thus providing more direct evidence for the role of hormones in the development of the disea...

Receptors for insulin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) have been identified in endothelial cells derived from micro- and macrovessels. The insulin receptor in endothelial cells is structurally similar to that in other cell types and activation of its receptor tyrosine kinase leads to phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1. In endothelial cells, insulin mediated activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), Akt (protein kinase B)and the mitogen-activated ...

Primary hyperparathyroidism has an overall incidence of 25 per 100,000 of the UK population but may be present in 1 in 500 or more women over the age of 45. Surgery is the treatment of choice in symptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT). Selected patients with asymptomatic hyperparathyroidism may also benefit from parathyroidectomy.Traditionally, parathyroidectomy has been based on a collar incision coupled with bilateral cervical neck exploration. ...

We examined hypothyroidism control criteria in women in previous study. Part of thyroxin was replaced by 12.5 micrograms triiodthyronine (T3). After T3 treatment constant increase of the level of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) was observed in all cases. The aim of the study to evaluate T3 influence on testosterone level in women, SHBG level and FAI. SHBG directly determines the level of free androgen index (FAI). We have included 18 women with the increased level of FAI i...

All of the new drugs that have been used or become available over the past decade for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis are so-called “anti-resorptives”. These include bisphosphonates (etidronate, alendronate and risedronate), hormone replacement therapy, selective estrogen receptor modulators (raloxifene), and calcitonins. All reduce vertebral fracture risk and some reduce nonvertebral fracture risk, but there are obvious theoretical advantages to using...

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I am a Consultant Physician with an interest in Diabetes, working in a District General Hospital. I shall argue the case that Diabetologists, as the only remaining true general physicians, should treat hypertension in diabetic patients. Specialists in hypertension treatment may be too blinkered in their view of their patients!...

Androgens and increasing age are established risk factors associated with prostate cancer, Paradoxically, testosterone levels gradually decline with increasing age as the incidence of prostate cancer (PCa) rises in older men. Estrogens have been implicated in PCa as estrogen levels in older men remain relatively unchanged resulting in a decline in the ratio of androgens:estrogens with age. Thus the hormonal regulation of prostate cancer is not limited to a role for androgens a...

Cancers arise through accumulation of mutations that compromise control of cell proliferation, differentiation, adhesion, invasion, angiogenesis and apoptosis. To identify targets for effective therapy, it is important to determine which lesions are needed for maintenance of the tumor. We have constructed genetically manipulated transgenic and knock-in mice to directly explore the roles of activated Myc and inactivated p53 in the genesis, progression and maintenance of neoplas...