Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: In Edmonton, universal screening of all pregnancies is performed using a 50 g gestational diabetes screen (GDS). Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) Practice Guidelines recommend a 75 g 2 h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) if the GDS glucose result is between 7.8 and 10.2 mmol/l. This study is designed to assess the frequency of OGTT requests in response to a positive GDS and the prevalence of normal OGTT in this population.Methods: All GDS ...

Loss of normal blood-brain barrier (BBB) function is an integral feature of the neuroinflammatory process in the human demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis (MS). Our previous studies using EAE as the experimental model of MS have demonstrated that restoration of BBB function is associated with an improved clinical status. The vasoactive peptide ADM works in an autocrine manner on endothelial cells of the vasculature and is produced at particularly high levels within the ne...

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Incorporating research findings into clinical practice is the primary reason why research is done. The main goal is to offer evidence-based care to the patients. Retaining the nursing findings and integrating them into the healthcare will provide an injustice to the nursing profession.Obtaining support from the leader team is important in a succesful research nursing project.We also need resources, time, training and energy if we w...

GH therapy in children with PWS was approved in the US in 2000, based on short term growth data, and in Europe in 2006, based on growth and body composition data. GH therapy in PWS has been used by the medical community and advocated by parental support groups since this time. The advent of GH therapy for individuals with PWS represents a unique therapeutic challenge with its intersection of GH treatment for individuals with cognitive disability, varied therapeutic goals that ...

PCOS is the commonest endocrine disorder of young women. It has appreciable impact on wellbeing and quality of life, fertility and reproduction, and long term metabolic and cancer risks. Acknowledged a ‘condition of our times’, there was no data from Asia until recently. South Asians have early manifestation with more severe symptoms than white Europeans. Young affected Asians have significantly greater insulin resistance than older white Europeans; with approximatel...

The overwhelming majority of benign lesions of the adrenal cortex (AC) leading to Cushing syndrome (CS) are linked to one or another abnormality of the cAMP signaling pathway. Benign adrenocortical causes of CS include the common and sporadic cortisol-producing adenoma (CPA) and a spectrum of corticotropin (ACTH)-independent, and almost always bilateral, hyperplasias. Macro-hyperplasias are more common among older patients, whereas micro-hyperplasias are frequent among childre...

Nutrition is a crucial regulatory component of the reproductive physiology. Conditions of negative energy balance or low energy store often causes a disruption of the neuroendocrine reproductive axis and arrest of sexual maturation. On the other hand, excess energy, as observed in obesity, also negatively impacts the reproductive physiology. For example, high adiposity may induce or aggravate polycystic ovarian syndrome, ovulatory dysfunction and hypothalamic amenorrhea. In ob...

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is gaining increasing recognition as a component of the epidemic of obesity worldwide. The spectrum of NAFLD ranges from simple fatty liver with benign prognosis, to a potentially progressive form, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which may lead to liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. All features of the metabolic syndrome, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, arterial hypertension, and hype...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is marked by (primarily ovarian) hyperandrogenemia and ovarian dysfunction. In many cases, PCOS first manifests during adolescence, and both peripubertal hyperandrogenemia and obesity are considered risk factors for the development of PCOS. Many, but not all, pubertal girls with obesity – including those in early puberty – exhibit relative hyperandrogenemia. However, the causes of peripubertal obesity-associated hyperandrogenemia, and...