Endocrine Abstracts

The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trial and Million Women's Study (MWS) fundamentally changed our understanding of risks and benefits associated with HRT. WHI for the first time provided evidence of harmful effects of HRT on the cardiovascular system and also confirmed significantly increased risk of breast cancer previously documented in a meta analysis. HRT does not decrease, and may in fact increase, the incidence of ishaemic heart disease. The risk of stroke is increased...

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...

DHEA and its sulfate ester DHEAS are the major steroids secreted by the adrenal zona reticularis. DHEA exerts its action either indirectly in peripheral target tissues following its conversion to potent sex steroids or directly as a neurosteroid. Moreover, there is growing evidence of high affinity binding sites on endothelial cells and lymphocytes suggestive of the presence of a specific DHEA receptor. Studies in patients with adrenal insufficiency (AI) have elucidated the ro...