Endocrine Abstracts

Familial medullary thyroid carcinoma (FMTC) is caused by germ-line mutations in the RET proto-oncogene. These mutations concern mainly exons 10 and 11, whereas mutations in exons 13–16 are rare. Mutations in exon 8 have been reported in the literature only twice.We performed direct analysis of exons 7–19 and 21 of RET gene in two apparently unrelated Greek index-patients with FMTC, presenting negative initial screening for mutations in exons 10...

Objectives: Diabetes risk for Asians is related to a greater tendency to adiposity, which increases insulin resistance. Various studies have highlighted the fact that people from South Asia have a younger age of onset of diabetes, greater upper-body adiposity and lower body mass index (BMI) and higher risk compared to those from other nations. Greece has experienced a large wave of immigration from Asian countries, especially Bangladesh. The purpose of this study was to explor...

Objectives: Smoking tobacco is a risk factor for several diseases and has been increasing in many developing countries. Smoking cessation counseling should be a routine component of diabetes care. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between smoking status in two different groups of patients with diabetes: Immigrants from Bangladesh who live in Greece and Greek-born subjects.Methods: A total of 166 immigrants with diabetes (122 wit...

Introduction: Prayer marks (PMs) have been reported in the literature among Muslim prayers. PMs are found most often on the forehead, knees, ankles and dorsa of the feet. The most common changes consist of thickening, lichenification and hyperpigmentation of the skin, the causative factors being repeated pressure and friction during pray.Objectives: Immigrant populations are disproportionately affected by diabetes and its complications. Moreover, diabeti...

Introduction: • Vitamin D deficiency is thought to impair insulin action and glucose metabolism.• Migrants who live in Western countries seem to have lower 25(OH)VitD levels, not only from their white counterparts but also from their native populations in their country of origin.Objectives: • We investigated a cohort of predominantly white Greek Caucasian and Bangladeshi immigrant patients with diabetes mellitus in o...