Endocrine Abstracts

Diabetes mellitus like all chronic illnesses requires lifelong management (self or guided) with regular health professional support and supervision. Non-attendance at outpatient clinics (OPD) is a common cause of inefficiency in our current health care system causing undue wastage of clinician time and resources and potentially lengthening waiting times.Aim: The aim of our pilot project was to improve our diabetes OPD from the current attendance of 78% t...

Amongst the different markers of ovarian function, AMH levels and antral follicle count (AFC) are the most objective and reliable predictors of ovarian response in women undergoing in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). Several factors, that have been reported to interfere with ovarian response, are taken into consideration when enrolling women into an IVF programme.The aim of this prospective study was to determine the correlation, if any, between baseline AMH l...

The nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate Risedronate have been shown to reduce the risk of both spine and nonspine fractures by reducing bone turnover, increasing bone mass and improving bone strength.Objective: To study the effects of once-weekly Risedronate on bone turnover markers in osteoporotic patients after three month of treatment.Patients and methods: Study group included 50 osteoporotic patients (3 males and 47 females), me...

The nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate Risedronate have been shown to reduce the risk of both spine and nonspine fractures by reducing bone turnover, increasing bone mass and improving bone strength.Objective: To study the effects of once-weekly Risedronate on bone turnover markers in osteoporotic patients after three month of treatment.Patients and methods: Study group included 50 osteoporotic patients (3 males and 47 females), me...

Glargine is an analogue insulin which has a peakless action profile over approximately 24 hours. As a result it has been shown to reduce the frequency of hypoglycaemia thereby enabling achievement of tight glycaemic control. This is important during pregnancy in order to lower the risk of foetal malformations.Method: 17 women, mean age 28 years, with type 1 Diabetes Mellitus on a basal bolus regimen including Glargine became pregnant between January 2004...

Through its circadian pattern of melatonin (MT) secretion, the pineal gland helps to keep the internal physiology of animals in synchrony with the day-night cycle and with the annually changing seasons.Currently, however, the influence of MT on the human reproductive axis appears to be marginal and the available evidence supporting its physiological role is largely circumstantial; there is no clear consensus whether MT levels change during the menstrual ...

The National Service Framework (NSF) for Diabetes requires that type II diabetes patients are actively involved in their diabetes management. The use of patient-held, integrated care plans is envisaged to encourage patients to actively participate in their diabetes management and to facilitate the flow of information between primary and secondary care. However, the utility of such schemes may be limited by the current level of patient education regarding the data recorded in t...

The National Service Framework (NSF) for Diabetes requires that type II diabetes patients are actively involved in their diabetes management. The use of patient-held, integrated care plans is envisaged to encourage patients to actively participate in their diabetes management and to facilitate the flow of information between primary and secondary care. However, the utility of such schemes may be limited by the current level of patient education regarding the data recorded in t...

The TSHR is expressed during adipogenesis. We have employed in vitro models to investigate how TSHR activation affects this process. Gain-of-function TSHR mutants were introduced into preadipocytes using retroviral vectors. We have demonstrated that TSHR activation inhibits their proliferation and PPAR-gamma agonist (pioglitazone) induced adipogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanisms operating.Non-modified primary human preadipocy...

An important issue for all endocrinologists involved in management of non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFAs) not treated surgically at initial presentation is the frequency and duration of follow-up neuroimaging. Previous studies have described tumour enlargement in less than 15% of microadenomas (<1cm diameter) with macroadenomas (1cm diameter or more) showing a greater propensity for growth. With improvements in neuroimaging techniques we felt that it was timely to rev...