ENDO 2006
The Endocrine Society's 88th annual meeting, ENDO 2006, took place June 24-27 in Boston, and drew more than 6,000 attendees from at least 70 countries worldwide. The meeting included four areas of emphasis: "The Endocrine Brain," "Metabolic Syndrome and Growth Factor Signaling," "Stem Cells and Transplantation" and "Controversies in Endocrinology."
The society's president, Andrea Dunaif, M.D., of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said that the four areas covered some of the field's "most exciting research," including brain control of food intake, diagnosis and treatment of metabolic syndrome, the use of neural stem cells for spinal cord repair, and the ongoing debate over hormone replacement therapy in women. Dunaif cited new research showing the therapy's risks are highest when started in older women. "When you stratify the Women's Heath Initiative by age, you see benefit in younger women and harm in terms of cardiovascular events in older women."
Nelly Mauras, M.D., of Nemours Children's Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., presented research showing that anastrozole (Arimidex) treatment may benefit growth-retarded boys on growth-hormone therapy during puberty while maintaining normal pubertal progression after two to three years. "It slows down the progression of bone age allowing greater height to be achieved with growth-hormone therapy," Dunaif said. "This is a novel approach that could be fairly rapidly translated into clinical practice."
Two new practice guidelines were presented: "The New Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline on Evaluation and Treatment for the Growth Hormone Deficiency in Adults" (Full Text ) and "The New Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline on Testosterone Therapy in Adult Men with Androgen Deficiency Syndromes."(Full Text)
Both evidence-based guidelines were produced in response to what Dunaif called a billion-dollar industry that widely promotes both hormones "with huge promises of health and longevity and little evidence to back them up." Dunaif added, "This is a very important message to get out. These hormones should only be used in certain settings."
ENDO: Essential Oils May Cause Prepubertal Gynecomastia
TUESDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- Over-the-counter shampoos, lotions and soaps containing essential oils may disrupt the endocrine system and cause gynecomastia in boys aged 5 to 10, according to research presented this week at ENDO 2006, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting, in Boston.
ENDO: Testosterone Benefits Androgen-Deficient Women
TUESDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- In women with severe androgen deficiency due to hypopituitarism, administration of low-dose testosterone improves mood, sexual function and quality of life, but not cognitive function, according to research presented this week at ENDO 2006, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting, in Boston.
ENDO: Testosterone Levels Linked to CHD in Women
TUESDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- Older women with higher testosterone levels are at significantly higher risk of coronary heart disease and increased carotid intimal-medial thickness than women with lower levels, according to research presented this week at ENDO 2006, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting, in Boston.
ENDO: Maternal Age at Menarche Linked to Child's Obesity
MONDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- Women with an earlier age of menarche may be more likely to have children who experience rapid infant growth and are at increased risk of childhood and adult obesity, according to research presented this week at ENDO 2006, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting, in Boston.
ENDO: Male Patients Under-Tested for Osteoporosis
MONDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. physicians who treat elderly male patients aren't meeting Medicare guidelines, which recommend bone mineral density testing if there are vertebral abnormalities indicative of osteoporosis, osteopenia or vertebral fracture; or International Society for Clinical Densitometry guidelines, which recommend bone mineral density testing for all men age 70 and over, according to research at a Veterans Administration hospital presented this week at ENDO 2006, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting, in Boston.
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