Endocrine Abstracts

Health care payers (governments or insurance plans) are increasingly challenging new health services, including medicines, to prove their value and several European countries have established agencies to help with this task. The example of NICE in England is one example but the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) offers another.In its first four years the SMC has considered 14 endocrinology products, accepting eleven for use (79%). Manufacturers submit e...

PRL has long been recognized as a hormone that regulates both cell proliferation and differentiation in the mammary gland. Current theory proposes that it is the coexisting steroidal environment which dictates whether PRL is mainly proliferative, as it is during pregnancy, or mainly differentiative, as it is during lactation. While major changes in the steroidal environment may contribute to a shift in response by the mammary gland, other tissues which show both responses to P...

This is a brief reflection on how the role of the children’s endocrine nurse specialist has evolved over the past 24 years and discussion around what the next 24 years may look like. What have we achieved; what is there still to do and what are the major challenges for the future? When days are filled with phone calls, clinics, paper/ computer work, supporting colleagues and caring for patients- we often forget what we have actually achieved and how much our roles have de...

Although Endocrinologists have focused for decades on circulating concentrations of cortisol, arguably the important concentrations are those within tissues which are available at corticosteroid receptors. Tissue concentrations are influenced by plasma proteins binding cortisol, by physicochemical characteristics of the steroid, by active transport across cell membranes, and by steroid metabolism within target tissues. Many of these factors vary between individuals, and within...

An overview of current understanding of bone biology. Including new innovations in therapy,bone growth and vitamin D metabolism. An update on bone health for the specialist nurse working in paediatric endocrinology....

Brian Walker, UK-. AbstractBrian Walker is Professor of Endocrinology at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland where he is administrative head of a 60-strong multidisciplinary research group in the Centre for Cardiovascular Science.He graduated in medicine in Edinburgh in 1986 and completed his clinical training in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Since 1996 he has practised as an honorary consultant i...

Similarities between the metabolic syndrome and Cushing’s syndrome, and reversibility of the features of Cushing’s syndrome, suggest that cortisol may contribute to pathophysiology in both conditions and that reducing cortisol action may provide a novel therapeutic approach in metabolic syndrome.There is substantial evidence that circulating cortisol concentrations are higher in people with hypertension and glucose intolerance. The basis for th...

Brian Walker, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. AbstractBrian Walker is Professor of Endocrinology at the University of Edinburgh, where he is administrative head of a 60-strong multidisciplinary research group in the Centre for Cardiovascular Science.He graduated in medicine in Edinburgh in 1986 and completed his clinical training in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Since 1996 he has pra...

Hypertension is a common feature of patients with type 2 diabetes, and contributes to the markedly increased risk of cardiovascular disease associated with the diabetic state. Both hypertension and type 2 diabetes are features of the Insulin Resistance Syndrome. Susceptibility genes for the development of the Insulin Resistance Syndrome could contribute to the close association between hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Support for this concept comes from the identification of ...

While organisms have evolved to maintain the fidelity of their genome, the epigenome, in contrast, is inherently plastic, with extensive remodeling required during normal development. This epigenomic plasticity plays a role in preparing the developing organism for its adult environment. The epigenome is able to sense environmental cues, providing an opportunity for adaptive changes during development that can provide a later-life survival advantage. However, epigenomic plastic...