Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Menopause marks the permanent cessation of periods for a woman. It is commonly associated with cognitive impairment. Oestrogens and progestins have been known to have a profound effect on the central nervous system and can exert neuroprotective effects on the cellular level. This led to the hypothesis that administration of oestrogens, progestins or a combination of both in the form of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can have a protective or therapeutic effect ag...

Introduction: Coeliac disease (CD) is associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and relevance of screening for osteoporosis in CD and to determine possible risk factors in the coeliac population. There has been no conclusive study concerning the efficacy of such screening programmes to date.Method: All Coeliac patients who attended a 2003 Coeliac clinic were reviewed by questionnaire, clinical ...

A young female presented concerned that she may have Addison’s disease. She had noted increasing pigmentation and reported her sister had died from undiagnosed Addison’s disease. She was hypotensive, with no postural drop in her blood pressure. She was hyponatraemic and hyperkalaemic. An initial 250 μg Synacthen test performed in the afternoon gave a baseline cortisol of 258 nmol/L and a 30 minute cortisol of 291 nmol/L. In view of this, the Synacthen test was r...

A 39 year-old man was referred with weight loss and lethargy in 2011. On examination tremor, goitre and mild orbital oedema were present. His past medical history consisted of hypertension (ongoing treatment). Investigations: fT4: 37 pmol/l (9–21), TSH: 0.00 mU/l (0.20–4.50), Anti Thyroid Peroxidase: 242.6 U/ml (0–50) and TRAbs: 11.2 iu/l (0–1.6). Graves’ thyrotoxicosis with moderately active eye disease was diagnosed and he started on carbimazole and ...

Insulinoma is a rare tumour, but is the commonest cause of hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia in adults. It is characterised by symptomatic hypoglycaemia with inappropriately elevated plasma insulin and C-peptide levels. 10% of insulinomas are malignant. The coexistence of insulinoma with diabetes mellitus is extremely rare with only 20 previously reported cases. This can therefore pose a diagnostic challenge.An 83 year old man, who developed Type 2 diabete...

A para 2+0 female, 11 weeks gestation presented with vaginal bleeding and hyper-emesis. An ultrasound scan showed a dichorionic pregnancy with one viable foetus and a hydatiform mole. β-human chorionic gonadotrophin (β-hCG) level was elevated at 159845 U/L and subsequent thyroid biochemistry revealed hyperthyroidism. Serum thyrotrophin (TSH) was suppressed at <0.05 mU/L (NR 0.2–4.5), with a FT4 37 pmol/L (NR 9–24), and Free T3 of 17.8 nmol/L (NR 2.6&#15...