EUROPEAN ENDOCRINOLOGY – VOLUME 7 ISSUE 1 – SUMMER 2011

Here we are, at the turn of the century, and randomised trials have shown that most of what we knew about sex steroids was simply wrong. We were actually causing cardiovascular disease with hormone therapy. Recently, our understanding has changed once again, after the Women’s Health Initiative investigators’ recent publication showing that postmenopausal women who […]

There are three gonadotrophic hormones: follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH), produced by the anterior pituitary gland, and human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), produced by placental trophoblasts. Besides stimulating gonadal steroidogenesis and gametogenesis, these hormones have stimulatory effects on the proliferation of their target cells. Therefore, it is feasible that gonadotrophins could participate in the […]

Over the past 50 years, average sleep duration in Western societies has decreased by two hours per night.1 Initially, this decrease in sleep was observed mainly in adulthood, but recent epidemiological studies have shown a similar decrease in children and adolescents.2,3 A decrease in sleep includes not only the duration, but also the quality of […]

It is now well known that the prevalence of diabetes has increased over the last few decades and is predicted to continue to increase. This is not just due to the ageing of populations.1,2 In comparison with 2010, by 2030 it is predicted there will be a 20% increase in the number of diabetic patients […]

Many patients with type 2 diabetes require insulin therapy during the course of their disease, either as monotherapy or as an addition to existing oral glucose-lowering therapy.1–3 However, this might not always be sufficient to maintain adequate glycaemic control and additional therapies might therefore be required.1–3 The oral glucoselowering drug pioglitazone is one of several […]

Individuals with type 2 diabetes suffer from increased morbidity and mortality secondary to both macrovascular (heart attack, stroke and amputation)1 and microvascular (retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy)2 complications. Hyperglycaemia is the major risk factor for microvascular complications. Many studies, e.g. the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT)3 and the UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS),4 have documented […]

Hypertension and Diabetes The Size of the Problem

Pediatric endocrinologists aspire to provide the best care for children including improving outcomes in growth hormone deficiency (GHD). The challenging issues are sometimes simple ones, such as which children should be seen in the endocrine clinic for evaluation of their growth, or standards for diagnosis of GHD, or methods of delivering standard therapy for GHD.1 […]

The ability of an organism to respond to stressful stimuli is fundamentally important to that organism’s continuing survival. Recognition of a stressor elicits a range of physiological changes that enable the organism to cope and to facilitate the restoration of homeostasis. Many of these physiological changes are mediated via activation of the hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenocortical (HPA) axis […]

Subclinical hypothyroidism comprises elevated serum thyroidstimulating hormone (TSH) in the context of normal peripheral thyroid hormone concentrations.1 Although this definition is highly dependant on methods for TSH measurement and the definition of the upper limit of normal reference values, many publications have come out in recent years concerning the long-term consequences of subclinical hypothyroidism and […]

Since the description of Turner syndrome (TS) in 1938, a wealth of information has been added and our current understanding of the syndrome is continuously being broadened. The syndrome affects only females and care must include the close collaboration of several specialties such as genetics, embryology, paediatrics, gynaecology and obstetrics, endocrinology, cardiology, gastroenterology, otorhinonology and […]