Endocrine Abstracts

In recent years, Low Carbohydrate Diets (LCD) and Very Low Carbohydrate Diets (VLCD) as management strategies for Type 1 diabetes have been gaining popularity. Whilst now acceptable as an option amongst adults with Type 1 diabetes, the situation in paediatrics is more complicated. While this option is not currently recommended or endorsed by international diabetes experts, paediatric diabetes teams need to be aware of the potential risks of following such restricted diets in t...

Disordered eating is more common amongst people with type 1 diabetes than their peers without this condition. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia, eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) and deliberate insulin omission are more common in type 1 diabetes. Binge eating disorder is more prevalent in type 2 diabetes. These disorders present difficulties and dilemmas in personal diabetes management on a daily basis, and significantly increase risk of diabetes complications, particula...

A critical aspect of the environment before birth and in infancy is nutrition. It is estimated that 850 m people in the world (820 m in developing countries) are hungry. This has long-term consequences for their later health and economic potential but also for their children. Such figures do not include those people who have unbalanced nutrition, both in terms of macronutrients and micronutrients. An unbalanced diet can lead to ‘malnutrition’ even in those who have a...

The fetus and neonate pass through critical periods which permanently determine cardiovascular and endocrine control. Such programming can occur covertly in fetal life, and may ultimately have deleterious consequences for the adult.Animal models demonstrate that maternal dietary imbalance produces offspring with elevated blood pressure and perturbed HPA axis responses. However, the late gestation fetus is not hypertensive, and models such as carunclectom...

54 year south Asian woman was found to have mild hypercalcaemia of 2.64mmol/l, vitamin D of 21 nmol/land PTH of 4.9 pmol/lin 2013. She had a DEXA scan showing osteopenia of the fourth lumbar vertebrae. She did not have any symptoms suggestive of hypercalcaemia but reported generalised aches and pains. She had a past medical history of hysterectomy, right oophorectomy, dyspepsia and asthma. She was initially treated with vitamin D. Repeat calcium, vitamin D and PTH normalised a...

A 25 year old gentleman was referred to the endocrine clinic for evaluation of abnormal thyroid function tests. He reported symptoms of diffuse abdominal pain associated with loose stool up to six times a day with urgency, frequency and tenesmus. These symptoms had been present since childhood, becoming increasingly troublesome over the preceding two years. He also reported symptoms of tiredness, palpitations and sweating episodes. Thyroid function tests were abnormal. TSH was...

Overeating contributes to obesity epidemic and has many causes. Evidence shows that problematic eating behaviours can be modified with mindfulness. In the UK the use of mindfulness in management of obesity has been studied only once before. We aimed to pilot a new weight management course that would improve patients’ skills and confidence in ability to lose weight, and reduce patient waiting time. The course covered mindful eating, compassion and self-esteem, managing rel...

Background: The insulin receptor (INSR) is alternatively spliced in a developmental and tissue specific manner into two isoforms, IR-A and IR-B. IR-A excludes exon 11 and is widely expressed whereas IR-B includes exon 11 and is expressed in insulin sensitive tissues. The severe short stature disorder 3-M syndrome is caused by mutations in CUL7, OBSL1 and CCDC8 and we have recently associated these proteins with the major mRNA splicing pathways includ...

Objective: To determine whether there is a seasonal variation in bone mineral density (BMD) related to exposure to sunlight.Design: A single-centre retrospective analysis of BMD measurements.Participants: Of 10 971 patients who had undergone bone densitometry in the period 2000–2007. 7513 were female and 3458 male.Results: Anonymised data on BMD of lumbar spine was gathered from existing hospital databas...

The pathogenesis of gonadotrophin secreting pituitary tumours (gonadotrophinomas) remains poorly understood. BMP2, known to be important in the control of cell proliferation and differentiation, is essential for commitment of undifferentiated pituitary cells to the gonadotroph cell lineage. Attenuation of its expression is critical in allowing terminal differentiation. BMPs are associated with up-regulated expression of Id (Inhibitors of differentiation) proteins with predicte...