Endocrine Abstracts

There are many current uncertainties surrounding the definition and treatment of vitamin D deficiency.This presentation will review the synthesis and metabolism of vitamin D and its multisystem effects.How should we define significant vitamin D deficiency? Should threshold be 30, 50 or 75 nmol/l?How should vitamin D deficiency be treated? What is a safe upper limit of serum vitamin D, and are there adverse ef...

The Endocrine Society guidelines define male hypogonadism as a ‘clinical syndrome’ where the diagnosis is based on symptoms or signs and unequivocally low serum testosterone (T) levels. Generally accepted by most clinicians, diagnosis of male hypogonadism is clinically relevant because T replacement can restore libido and correct sexual dysfunction, increase lean and decrease fat mass, increase in bone mineral density and vitality. Low serum T is associated wi...

Hypothyroidism has been defined as those conditions which result in suboptimal circulating levels of thyroid hormones. The problem is how to define such suboptimal levels? In the 1970s, the advent of routine assays for TSH together with the concept that the most sensitive ‘peripheral tissue’ to diminished circulating thyroid hormone concentrations is the pituitary led to the acceptance that elevated serum TSH was required to define primary hypothyroidism. There are p...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common disorder which has considerable phenotypic variability and this has led to controversy over its exact definition and diagnosis. Over the past years a number of definitions have been developed by professional associations. These consensus statements have used a combination of clinical, laboratory and imaging studies as the defining criteria. However, the statements imply that these measures are dichotomous variables without consideri...