Endocrine Abstracts

In spite of the first adolescent health clinic being established in Stanford in 1918, it is only in the last decade that specific national standards, professional societies and training in adolescent health have been developed and established in the UK. Over this time, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the health of young people a global health priority, concerned both by the growing burden of adolescent morbidity and mortality and the importance of adolescence ...

As humans age their ability to combat bacterial infection declines and reduced immunity is further compromised at times of emotional and physical stress. Adrenocortical hormones are elevated in response to chronic stress in both young and old, but the quality of the response is dramatically altered with aging. The adrenal steroid dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) is immune enhancing, while cortisol is immune suppressing. Serum DHEAS levels decline with age but cortisol d...

Prostate cancer is projected to be the commonest cancer by 2030, with 1 in 8 men receiving a diagnosis in their lifetime. Although there are more than 400,000 cases in Europe diagnosed each year, many new prostate cancer treatments have been introduced and patients now live with their disease for many years. Consideration of the long-term consequences of treatment is of therefore of increasing importance. More than one third of patients with prostate cancer receive androgen de...

Ageing is associated with a decline in immunity, also termed immunesenescence. This is paralleled by a decline in the production of several hormones as typically illustrated by the menopausal loss of ovarian oestrogen production. This lecture will give a brief overview of the physiology and pathophysiology of steroid hormones that decline with ageing. Therein a specific focus will be laid on the ageing-associated decline in adrenal dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) production, an ...

Normal ageing is accompanied by increased organismal frailty, reflecting organ specific functional decline, with an associated increase in the likelihood of disease. The immune system undergoes significant decline with age, termed immunesenescence, which results in increased susceptibility to infection and reduced vaccination responses. Significant changes in the hormonal milieu also occur with age and it is clear that age-related changes in adrenal hormone secretion can impos...

Introduction: Across the North West England, following a survey across all Children and Young People’s Diabetes Units, a large number of paediatric diabetes specialist nurses (PDSNs) adjust insulin doses of children and young people with diabetes without a non-medical prescribing qualification (NMP). The majority have no Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in place, which is essential for their indemnity. In the meantime, PDSNs who were waiting to commence the NMP (v300) c...

Introduction: Although significant developments have been achieved in the management of steroid-dependent patients, little progress has been made in ensuring their safety using smartphone technology. We present the use of a novel app in steroid-dependent patients.Methods: A group of unselected individuals currently on steroid replacement due to adrenal insufficiency (AI) were assessed regarding their access to intramuscular (IM) hydrocortisone. A smartph...

Background: In December 2017, a Nurse-Led AI clinic was introduced at University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff for the evaluation and follow-up of these patients. The clinic pathway was based upon the 2016 European Society for Endocrinology (ESE) guidelines on the management of adrenal incidentalomas.Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of this new service and the cost-saving benefit.Methods: Electronic and paper-based patient records w...

End stage renal disease (ESRD) is characterised by decreased renal synthesis of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25D). Therapeutic use of 1,25D analogues for the management of renal bone disease is routine. However ESRD patients are also deficient in 25D (the immediate precursor of 1,25D). Since 2014 UK guidelines recommend diagnosis and treatment of 25D deficiency/insufficiency in people with chronic kidney disease, but make no recommendations for dosage or monitoring. This, togeth...

Introduction: Leptin and adiponectin have opposing properties and are implicated as molecular mediators between obesity and (aggressive) prostate cancer. Adiponectin, circulates inversely proportional to visceral fat accumulation, and has demonstrated anti-proliferative effects in prostate cancer cells; circulating leptin levels increase with visceral fat accumulation and has shown mitogenic effects. We propose that adiponectin and leptin interact in prostate cancer cell growt...