Endocrinology

While the best way to combat obesity may be to not gain enough wait for the diagnosis there are steps that can be taken to get people back on track to being healthy.

As hospitals around the country deal with the newly instituted readmission penalties many are having to look at how they will handle providing the same level of care without some of the money they counted on in the past.

When surgical patients have tumors that secrete adrenal hormonal, the anesthesiologist needs to thoroughly address preoperative evaluation, perioperative hemodynamic control, electrolytes, and metabolic abnormalities

Many people could be more active in their daily lives. The question for physicians is: How do you make that happen, especially for children and adolescents? A recent study provides clues about how to help patients maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Many questions have been raised about the potential effects of a mother's pre-pregnancy weight and the impact it has on the health of their children as they get older. Now, analysis of data from a cohort of patients from the Framingham Heart Study has shown that adults whose mothers were overweight or obese prior to pregnancy have an increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease or stroke.

Guidelines from the Endocrine Society report that postmenopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder may benefit from up to 6 months of testosterone replacement therapy but recommend against its use in otherwise healthy women.

Although more people than ever are signing up to become an organ donor, the demand for organs still greatly exceeds the number of available donors. Clinicians and advocates have taken a number of measures to raise awareness of organ donation, including the use of social media to help provide education on the topic.

For patients with a statin intolerance, getting the treatment they need to manage their cholesterol levels can be difficult. A recent study has shown that a new class of drugs known as PCSK9 inhibitors could help effectively manage cholesterol levels in this patient population.

Obese patients present several challenges when it comes to gastric bypass, kidney transplant, and other surgeries. Several recent advances have reduced the risk of complications in this population.

Thyroid dysfunction causes many well-recognized changes at the level of the brain, and most are reversible with treatment. Patients who have hypothyroidism often have other neuropsychiatric comorbidities, including affective disorders, depression, cognitive function loss, anxiety, or irritability.

Among diabetics, poor adherence or nonadherence results in poorer glycemic control and increased risk of complications and disability, as well as increased healthcare costs.

New evidence indicates that mitochondria are a crucial element in metabolic homeostasis in white adipocytes. They appear to have significant involvement in adipogenesis, fatty acid synthesis and esterification, branched-chain amino acid catabolism, and lipolysis

Physicians caring for individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) must strike a balance between ensuring optimal lipid control for protection from vascular events, while avoiding undue risk.

Affecting just one in every 100,000 people, ANCA-associated vasculitis is not one of the more common conditions nephrologists will encounter. However, without proper treatment it can have serious adverse effects on a patient's life.

Despite achieving optimal goals for "bad" cholesterol levels, individuals with diabetes and chronic kidney disease still have an elevated risk of vascular complications.

Vitamin D has a role in the immune system distinct from its regulatory role in calcium homeostasis. Immune cells express the vitamin D receptor and can metabolize circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D into its active form, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. This finding has researchers looking for new ways to manipulate vitamin D in the innate and adaptive immune systems.

Low testosterone is a common condition among men with diabetes-diabetic men are approximately twice as likely as others to develop low testosterone and hypogonadism. Because its symptoms mimic other conditions, patients often fail to report concerns and clinicians may fail to diagnose "Low T."

Patients with type 1 diabetes could get much needed help from an unlikely source if positive results from animal model tests with a common diabetes drug can be replicated in clinical trials with humans.

A small but rigorous 6-month randomized, controlled parallel arm trial comparing alternate day fasting and daily calorie restriction showed that each approach can result in significant weight loss for individuals who are overweight or have obesity, with similar adherence between the two methods of dieting.

Alternate day fasting can be an effective weight loss strategy, but optimal meal timing on fast days has not been thoroughly examined.

For individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus, a low carbohydrate, low saturated fat diet in combination with exercise resulted in superior glycemic control with less medication use than did a higher carbohydrate diet

Acceptance-based therapy encourages a mindful but nonjudgmental approach to give participants the tools to note, but not act on, urges to overeat or to make unhealthy food choices.

Use positive language, start with the basics, and keep it fun. These are the fundamentals in designing a family-based program to combat childhood obesity.

Mindfulness-based treatment for obesity and binge eating disorder can promote self-regulation and yield significant results. A dose-response effect may yield better results for those who practice the approach more intensively.

A recent study has shown that in addition to losing weight patients who undergo weight loss surgery also decrease their chances of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Pediatric obesity is increasing in prevalence, with severe childhood obesity being seen more and more frequently.

There is currently no algorithm to guide clinicians in deciding which medication to choose to help promote weight loss in individuals with obesity. Rather, clinicians must take stock of a variety of factors when making treatment decisions for a particular patient.

The range of medication choices to treat obesity is expanding, and a rational prescribing plan requires a solid grasp of medication side effects.

Using a variety of cognitive strategies may help dampen food cravings and boost inhibitory control in individuals with obesity, according to a small neuroimaging study that draws methods from addiction research.

An intragastric dual-balloon device was well tolerated and proved effective for patients with moderate levels of obesity, owing in part to its ability to conform to stomach anatomy, according to Jaime Ponce, MD, Medical Director for the Bariatric Surgery program at Hamilton Medical Center, in Dalton, Georgia.