Endocrine Abstracts

Induction of puberty is indicated in children with primary or secondary gonadal failure, and where there is pubertal arrest or delay for whatever reason.Timing of induction will vary depending upon age at presentation/diagnosis, but as far as possible this should coincide with expected pubertal changes within the normal population range.Optimization of final height, breast and uterine development, and fertility are important outcom...

The adolescent/young adult who requires pubertal induction presents unique challenges to the health care team. Nurses serve as a key resource for patients and their families during the process of pubertal induction. Health promotion is the keystone of nursing practice and a developmental model is an appropriate framework to tailor nursing assessment and intervention to the adolescent/young adult’s developmental level. The nurse’s role in health promotion during puber...

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In the UK the expansion of nurses’ autonomy and scope of practice over recent years means that the clinical nurse specialist (CNS) can effectively provide a quality service to endocrine patients. The role of the endocrine CNS in enabling patients to choose the right sex steroid replacement option does not differ much from the Doctor’s role. The CNS does, however, often have more time to provide the necessary education to the patient required to make an informed choic...

Cushing’s syndrome (CS) is characterized by chronic overproduction of cortisol resulting in significant morbidity and, when untreated, an increased mortality. CS is divided into adrenocorticotropin (ACTH)-dependent CS and ACTH-independent CS. ACTH-dependent CS, the majority of cases, can be caused by a corticotroph pituitary adenoma and, more rarely, by ectopic ACTH production. ACTH-independent CS is usually caused by an unilateral adrenal adenoma and less frequent by an ...

Cushing’s syndrome is a rare disease and difficult to diagnose. A number of different physical and psychological signs and symptoms can be present. Lots of patients have symptoms many years before diagnosis. Endocrine nurses can play an important role for these patients during diagnosis, medical or surgical treatment and in the postoperative phase.During the diagnostic phase, nurses need to know why patients must undergo certain endocrine function t...

Prolactinomas are the most prevalent pituitary adenomas. The incidence of prolactinomas varies with age and sex. The ratio between women and men has been estimated to 10:1 before the age of 50 years. Hypogonadism and infertility are important clinical problems associated with prolactinomas. There may be mass effects including visual field defects in a patient with a macroadenoma.Hyperprolactinaemia is a relatively frequent finding in women. It is importa...

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In the UK, the number of nurses able to legally prescribe medicines is rapidly increasing. The skills of nurse independent prescribing (NIP) offer an effective way for the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) to be more responsive to the changing, and unpredictable, needs of patients by enabling timely and appropriate symptom control in a single, seamless consultation. The structure of the Nurse-led clinic often allows for a longer consultation time enabling the CNS to provide a gr...