Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism

Endocrine glands are some of the most important glands that control our body in a way. This glands are the glands that secretes some of the most important hormones.The endocrine hormone regulates our mood, growth and physical and mental development. The endocrine system controls how much each hormone will be released. This depends on how much hormone is present in blood stream or other substances presence like calcium.

      Some of the most important Endocrine glands and its work :

• Pancreas – Controls the normal blood glucose levels
• Adrenal gland – Turns up blood glucose levels and increases heart rate
• Thyroid gland – Regulates our metabolism. Hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism are conditions in which thyroid gland is heavily related.
• Pituitary gland – Triggers all over growth
• Pineal gland – regulate our sleep patterns as well
• Ovaries – promotes development of female sex characteristics
• Testes – promotes development of primary and secondary male sex characteristics.

There are many hormones that controls this Endocrine Glands most of them gets secreted from pituitary glands. Those hormones also control the efficiency of the endocrine glands. Hormones are actually a chemical messenger released by the cell or any gland by which another part of the cell gets affected. These hormones affect the immune system, metabolism, reproductive system, cell growth, sexual desire; even before birth they guide the development of the brain.

Some of the important Hormones in Human body :

This disorder commonly happens due to if the body cannot use the hormone Insulin properly or if the glands are unable to produce the hormone Insulin. This disorder is formerly known as Diabetes Mellitus. In a type of Diabetes the immune system attacks the cells of Pancreas and destroys the cells the cause of this attack is not known fully, but this attack is called auto immune disease and in diabetes this is called type 1 diabetes approximately 10% of diabetic patients are suffering from this. In another type of diabetes Pregnant woman’s placenta makes some unique hormones which make their cells less reactive to the insulin produced by the body. Women with overweight suffer from it more. And this kind of diabetes is called gestational diabetes.

In paediatric endocrinology the endocrinologists deals with disorders of the endocrine glands, Sexual development and physical growth in childhood and many more. In this sector Endocrinologist deals with child’s Diabetes, growth or development of their body, puberty disorder. Paediatric Endocrinologist can perform a wide variety of screening tests and biopsies like skin biopsies, blood glucose level test, concentration of hormones in the blood, concentration of other particles in the blood, chromosome test and many more.

This department examines basic principles in molecular endocrinology using selected examples. This department looks into the molecular aspects of hormone action, from hormone-receptor interactions to second messenger generation, gene induction, and post-transcriptional control.

This gland is one of the most important glands in human body. We can say that in our body most of the glands are depending on Pituitary gland. The pituitary gland has anterior part and posterior part where the anterior part is connected to the brain by a thin blood vessel and the posterior part is already a part of the brain. The pituitary gland catches the chemical massages sent by other cells and acts accordingly by secreting hormones required to fulfil the need of that. The pituitary gland secrets hormones which can act on other glands like adrenal gland, Thyroid gland, Testes and ovaries which after receiving that can secret their own hormones.

Hormones produced by pituitary gland: 

Clinical endocrinology is the branch of medical science in which we study the diagnosis, cure, prevention and treatment of irregular secretion and modified action of hormones. But in Molecular endocrinology, basically they deal with the study of various functions of hormones secreted by different glands, at molecular level. In clinical endocrinology endocrinologist have to diagnose the main problem if there is low or very little secretion of any hormone they have to test the hormones availability in blood then after many other test they can give synthetic hormones to replace that hormone this is called Hormone Replacement Therapy. Or else there is surgery by that if any hormone producing cell is cancerous or not, if there is tumour in the endocrine gland then it can be treated with radiation therapy.

We can differentiate Diabetes in two category Type-1and Type-2. Type-1 Diabetes can occur in almost every age group but usually happens in child age or in adolescents. Whereas Type-2 Diabetes is most commonly seen in Adults and this is the type of diabetes that covers almost 90% of diabetic patients. There is another type of diabetes Gestational Diabetes in which pregnant women mostly overweight gets affected because their placenta makes some hormone which makes the cells of the body less sensitive to the insulin the body is producing because of that the blood sugar of that person gets high.

This Thyroid disorders are the common endocrine problem encountered in the paediatric and adolescent age group. Amongst the widely-known thyroid disorders hypothyroidism is far more common than hyperthyroidism, because this thyroid disorders sometimes tend to be genetic, so when a new baby born his immune system mistakes the thyroid gland as invader and attacks the cells of it then it starts inflammation and slowly destroys the cells of it then thyroxin gets decreased in blood vessels causes hypothyroidism, and when this news travels to pituitary gland it starts producing more TSH hormone to push the thyroid gland for making more thyroxin.

Persons having type two diabetes could be really helpful by the ketogenic diet. Because it allows the body to maintain glucose levels at a low level and at the same time healthy level. By lowering the intake of carbohydrates in the diet can help to eliminate large spikes in blood sugar, reducing the need to inject the insulin. In this kind of diet one has to minimize the consumption of carbohydrates and increase taking more protein and fat by this way blood sugar level can be controlled as the main source of blood glucose is carbohydrate.

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  Standard ketogenic diet (SKD): This is a low carb, medium protein and high fat diet. It contains 70% fat, 20% protein, and only 10% carbs.


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  Cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD): This diet allows to get a break from the whole diet system, such as 5 ketogenic days and with it 2 high carbohydrate days.


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  Targeted ketogenic diet (TKD): This diet allows you to customize the whole diet according to the workout plan or to achieve the required aim.


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  High protein ketogenic diet: This is the standard ketogenic diet, but with more protein. The ratio of this diet is 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs.

The endocrine system is mainly important for male reproductive development because androgens (such as testosterone and many other hormones) promote the maturation of male secondary characteristics as well as the process of spermatogenesis.

• Decreased Libido

Libido is the attraction to engage in sexual activity. About 5% of men have decreased libido, this condition increases with age.

• Male Infertility

Infertility is the condition of a sexually active couple who are not using any birth control but still cannot get pregnant after one year of trying. Sometimes problems in the male partner affect about 40 percent of infertile couples.

• Low Testosterone

Over time, if a person is having low testosterone then they will lose body hair, muscle bulk, and strength and will gain body fat. Chronic low testosterone may also cause weak bones (osteoporosis), mood changes, less energy, and smaller testes too.

This is the most common cause of female infertility and occurs due to an imbalance in the female sex hormones. This is why, women experience female reproduction and fertility issues, changes in menstrual cycle, skin changes, ovarian cysts and other symptoms related to the female reproduction system.

• Amenorrhea 

Amenorrhea is the term used when a woman or adolescent girl is having disorder in menstrual periods.

• Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is very common cancers in U.S. every 1 in 8 women suffer from it.

• Female Sexual Dysfunction

If a woman has female sexual dysfunction, also called FSD

The brain is the controller of the endocrine system which controls the digestive processes. The brain also controls the responses of hunger and satiety. The endocrine system should release the hormones and enzymes required for digestion of food in the digestive tract.

The first sign of problems in the digestive tract often includes one or more of the following symptoms:

Long term effects of alcohol on the endocrine system. Another way that alcohol affects the endocrine system is by interfering with how the body absorbs calcium, which is needed for strong bones. For this reason, a person who consumes alcohol heavily may be at a higher risk for osteoporosis, a disease in which bone density decreases. Although the dangers of drinking and smoking are very different, according to annual death numbers, smoking is worse than drinking. An estimated 88,000 people die from alcohol-related causes every year, but about 480,000 people die from tobacco

Diabetic medication works by reducing blood sugar without causing hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Diabetic medication works by decreasing gluconeogenesis and increasing insulin sensitivity and rarely causes hypoglycaemia acts on beta cells to promote insulin secretion, patients with low beta cell activity gets help from it, also these decreases peripheral insulin resistance.

Some Diabetic Medication

There are many researches going on just to improve the endocrinology treatment and diabetic treatments. Because in diabetes the last medication is injecting insulin on the body every day. Endocrinology & Diabetes Research (ECDR) is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal that publishes the most complete and reliable source of information in advancing knowledge for endocrinology and diabetes.

Research topics on endocrinology

Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. A body mass index (BMI) over 25 is considered overweight, and over 30 is obese Over the past 20 years, adult obesity has rapidly increased. Over 100 million adults worldwide, or one-third of all adults, are obese, according to health statistics.

Risk factors for metabolic syndrome can include a diet high in unhealthy fats, calories, and carbohydrates as well as a lack of regular exercise. Overweight people tend to develop insulin resistance, which is a hormone that controls blood sugar levels by directing sugar into the body's cells, where it is used as fuel. When you have insulin resistance, blood sugar cannot be transported into your cells as effectively. One of the symptoms of type 2 diabetes is high blood sugar levels in the bloodstream as a result.

The cornerstone of treatment and essential for maintaining weight loss over the long term are dietary and lifestyle changes. Unfortunately, because obesity is a chronic condition, there is no "quick fix" cure or method of therapy that works for everyone who is obese. A variety of approaches can be used to treat obesity. Every treatment strategy must entail a change in lifestyle.