Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The UK has seen a steady rise in childhood obesity over the last 30 years, with nearly a third of children aged 2–15 now overweight or obese. Childhood obesity represents a significant health burden, costing the NHS many millions of pounds.Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, perception and actions of obese patients at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital (RMCH), to guide recommendations for improving t...

Introduction: Ischaemic heart disease occurs seven times more frequently in women with Turner syndrome (TS) than the normal population. Adult TS subjects have raised serum cholesterol (Ch). In our service we measure Ch, apolipoprotein A1 (APA) and B (APB) annually in TS patients aged >5 years as APB:APA in childhood is a strong predictor of cardiovascular risk in adult life. Little is known about lipid profiles or the effects of GH or oestrogen (E2) in childhood...

Background: Obese young people are likely to suffer significant morbidity in adult life. Successful intervention during adolescence may have far-reaching benefits. Evidence is emerging that patient-responsive clinical services may deliver improved outcomes.Aims: To assess the perceptions of obese young people about weight and weight-management services.Method: Annonymised, postal questionnaire survey of 116 obese young people (9&#1...

An estimated 5% of all newborns are born SGA (weight less than −2SD at birth), with 10% failing to catch up and becoming eligible for GH treatment. Not all children respond to GH, but the criteria for determining a non-responder have not been clearly defined. We have therefore evaluated first year growth performance of short SGA children treated with GH in The Growth Clinic, Manchester. Clinical and auxological data were collected retrospectively from the case records of...

Background: Seeing the doctor alone has been associated with a better outcome following transition to adult services.Methods: A simple questionnaire was designed for young people (YP) to enquire about being seen alone in paediatric endocrine clinics.Results: The questionnaire was administered to 72 YP young people (37 male) with long term endocrine conditions. The mean age was 15.5 (2.5). 10% of YP thought they should be offered th...

Introduction: Data are conflicting on whether and how serum adipokines alter following acute dietary intake. Here, we used the specific challenge of standard 75 g glucose tolerance tests (GTT) to assess timed changes in TNF-α, IL-6, leptin and adiponectin in healthy younger women and how these would be affected by adiposity.Methods: Consenting participants in the Manchester Mothers’ Heart and Vascular health study had serum adipokines measured ...

A 30-year-old lady was transferred to our hospital at 37 weeks of pregnancy. Hypertension was noted at 24 weeks of gestation and managed with methyldopa and labetalol. Despite treatment, BP was labile with a systolic of 90–220 and diastolic of 50–129 mmHg. She reported occasional palpitations but not chest pain or shortness of breath. The patient had a history of migrainous headaches but not hypertension prior to pregnancy. Her brother had previously had an operation...

Primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) in pregnancy is an uncommon phenomenon, mostly occurring in the 2nd or 3rd trimester. HPT in pregnancy may cause complications affecting both the mother (renal stones, pancreatitis) and fetus (neonatal tetany, seizures, intra-uterine growth retardation and preterm labour). We report two recent cases that highlight the potential risks.Results: The patients, 37 and 35 years old at presentation respectively, both presented ...

Background: A polymorphism of the GHR gene, deletion of exon 3 (d3 GHR), has been associated with improved growth response to GH in some studies. We investigated the effect of this polymorphism across several diagnoses, evaluating parameters of growth outcome from a single institution (Manchester) and combined these with those derived from the literature using meta-analytical approaches.Methods: GHR genotype was assessed by PCR and related to clinical an...

Introduction: IGF-I and its binding proteins may modulate cardiovascular risk. As part of our Manchester Mothers’ Cardiovascular study, we tested in pre-menopausal women the hypothesis that higher circulating IGF-I concentrations would be associated with lesser arterial stiffness and lower cardiac (LV) mass, while higher IGFBP1, reflecting less pre-hepatic insulin, would be positively related to small vessel function.Methods: About 193 women aged 32...