Endocrine Abstracts

The stress system coordinates the adaptive responses of the organism to stressors of any kind. The main components of the stress system are the CRH and Locus Ceruleus-Norepinephrine (LC/NE)-Autonomic systems and their peripheral effectors, the pituitary-adrenal axis, and the limbs of the autonomic system. Activation of the stress system leads to behavioral and peripheral changes that improve the ability of the organism to adjust homeostasis and increase its chances for surviva...

The nature of the hypothalamic factors which control GH secretion in animals and man have emerged since the description of somatostatin (SS) in the early 1970s. Confusion originally arose when the ubiquitous distribution and apparent non-specificity of the actions of SS were established. Understanding of the paracrine nature of SS's action and the dependence of the specificity of its effects upon the locus of secretion and its short half-life in the circulation provided for an...

It is often said that the transition from paediatric to adult care should be seamless. At the same time, the first visit to an adult clinic is a time to stop, take stock and reorganise. Clinicians must be aware of the importance of this first visit in overcoming the disillusionment that often is felt by an individual as they leave the cosy world of a paediatric service and move into the busy, fragmented world of adult care. However thoroughly a child coming up for transfer is ...

Background: A 27-years-old women affected by recurrent pheocromocytoma/paragangliomas. We describe the evolution of disease and the surgical approach. The patient underwent a two-steps bilateral adrenalectomy for pheocromocytoma. At 15 years she underwent a left adrenalectomy. At 19 a right adrenalectomy+removal of paracaval paraganglioma were performed. After 8 years of good health she experienced again headache, tachycardia and hypertension not responsive to therapy. A diagn...

Background: Hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor foratherosclerosis (1,2). Elevated plasma total homocysteine(t-Hcy) levels havebeen described in primary hypothyroidism (3,4). Subclinical hypothyroidismhas also been found to be associated with atherosclerosis (5).Hypothyroidism decreases hepatic levels of enzymes involved in theremethylation pathway of homocysteine and renal excretion of t-Hcy (6,7).The present study evaluates t-Hcy in sub...

Background: Phase angle (PA) is defined as the angular displacement between the current and voltage waveforms due to capacitor interference, measured in degrees or radians. [1] The fat-free mass (FFM) is made up of water and electrolytes and is characterized by a low impedance, while the FM (fat mass) is water-free and, therefore, with a high impedance. The larger the FM, the higher the resistance, and this parameter affects the PA. Body mass index (BMI) is the most widely use...

A 64-year-old Sri Lankan female was admitted with a 1 week history of vomiting and poor oral intake. She had an episode of pneumonia 4 months previously and reported headaches, weight loss and dizziness since then.On admission, her blood tests showed marked hyponatraemia with a sodium of 118 mmol/l and low serum osmolality of 243 mOsm/kg. A short synacthen test confirmed adrenal insufficiency and thyroid function tests showed secondary hypothyroidism des...

Introduction: There are contradicting data about bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), although most studies describe increased BMD values in them. Due to this finding it is not clear how tightly bone fragility is bound with BMD in type 2 diabetic people.Design: We provided dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry of lumbar spine and proximal femur to 46 postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), 14 of them had ...

Introduction: The diabetes mellitus (DM) is the known risk factor of fractures. The aim was to determine predictors of fractures in type 2 diabetic postmenopausal women without hyperparathyroidism.Design: We analyzed local trauma clinic data for 3 sequential years from 2 662 diabetic persons who were entered The National Register of diabetes mellitus patients (133 subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus and 1995 ones with type 2 DM). Afterward we examined...

Background and aims: The aim was to determine psychoemotional state in diabetic and non-diabetic patients with or without fractures and its correlation with bone condition.Materials and methods: We examined 62 postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), 29 of them had bone fracture within last month. The control group included 56 non-diabetic women, 26 within a group were recently fractured. Groups were comparable in body mass index, age, du...