Endocrine Abstracts

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous disease with multiple pathophysiological pathways contributing to hyperglycemia, and also resulting in a variable clinical picture. Thus, individualization of hypoglycemic therapy is a mainstay of current clinical guidelines. Several factors should be considered for a given treatment choice. These include the characteristics related to a given medication (efficacy, hypoglycemia, effect on weight, other safety issues, the mechanism of...

Introduction: The current study was conducted to assess the level of awareness about diabetes in a random population.Methods: A questionnaire was conducted by communication over the telephone in Thessaloniki, Macedonia, and Greece in a random population of 600 persons. Presence of DM1 or DM2 in the person questioned or a family member, knowledge of precipitating factors, duration, curability, choice of phycisian and compliance with medication were assess...

In the UK the expansion of nurses’ autonomy and scope of practice over recent years means that the clinical nurse specialist (CNS) can effectively provide a quality service to endocrine patients. The role of the endocrine CNS in enabling patients to choose the right sex steroid replacement option does not differ much from the Doctor’s role. The CNS does, however, often have more time to provide the necessary education to the patient required to make an informed choic...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common and incompletely understood endocrinopathy in women that has both metabolic and reproductive features. Pathophysiologic constructs often guide the design and interpretation of studies by researchers and the choice of treatment by clinicians. Voids in evidence lead to consensus conferences to guide the diagnosis and treatment of the syndrome, yet these remain the lowest level of evidence. This lecture will explore the role of metform...

No Network, no Nobel…Networking is a way of life in science. Every rung on the ladder depends on whom you know as well as what you know. The process begins with choice of supervisor and lab for PhD training. By the time the doctorate is awarded, the newly fledged researcher has already accumulated a network of vital contacts that will usually remain of value, personally and professionally, throughout their career. An important early step is ...

The Intersex Society of North America stated in 1993 that “Intersex Genital Surgery in Infancy is a form of child sexual abuse”. This peremptory statement based on outcome data judged from outdated medical and surgical procedures, leaded to an even more accurate surgical management of the intersex baby.An etiological precise diagnosis of the condition and of the FURTHER post-pubertal sexual abilities of the patient, is mandatory before surgery....

Patient empowerment through informed choice is an important message; consistently reinforced through Government initiatives, Trust directives and our Professional Code of Conduct. Historically the Endocrine Nurse Specialist (ENS) performed the role of clinic nurse during Endocrine Clinic. Recognising this as a waste of specialist expertise and resource; identified drug company funding provided a replacement clinic nurse, liberating the ENS to see patients following their docto...

Background: PRRT is an effective treatment option (especially for controlling disease progression)for disseminated neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), with good expression of the somatostatin receptors. Despite significant progress in NET personalized management, searching for novel predictive and prognostic factors of response to PRRT is crucial for more effective follow-up, better treatment choices leading to more favorable final outcome. Some recent studies indicate that the resp...

Background: A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to assess the use of independent injections (self/partner/home-administered) as an alternative to healthcare-setting injections for chronic diseases. The primary objective was to identify studies reporting on independent injection of somatostatin analogues (SSAs). Comparative evidence on independent injection of other medications was examined as a secondary objective.Methods: MEDLINE/Embase/t...

Objective: Since the relationship between thymic hyperplasia (TH) and Graves’ Disease (GD) is of paramount importance for diagnostic and therapeutic choices, a wider knowledge of this association is required for endocrinologists in routine clinical practice. Our aim was to assess the prevalence, the clinical features, and the response to treatment of GD-related TH in an Academic referral centre.Methods: All consecutive cases of GD-related TH at Univ...