Adrenal News

Richard J.M. Ross, MD, FRCP, professor of endocrinology in the department of oncology and metabolism at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, has taken a different career path than most in his field.

Adrenal insufficiency increases the risk for severe outcomes, including death, 23-fold for children who contract COVID-19, according to a data analysis presented at the ENDO annual meeting.

From years spent studying estrogen-metabolizing enzymes to experimenting with recipes in the kitchen, Richard J. Auchus, MD, PhD, has always had a knack for chemistry.

Most patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at a hospital in Saudia Arabia in May 2020 had an impaired hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal response, with plasma cortisol at central adrenal insufficiency levels, according to study data.

More than half of patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2, or MEN2, reported abdominal pain, diarrhea and constipation, and said gastrointestinal symptoms negatively affect their quality of life, according to survey data.

Patients with oral corticosteroid-dependent asthma treated with benralizumab achieved OCS elimination or reduction in those in whom adrenal insufficiency was detected, regardless of baseline eosinophil count, in the PONENTE trial.

Central hypothyroidism is prevalent in about 1 in 2 adults with Cushing’s syndrome, and thyroid function can be restored after curative surgery for most patients, according to study findings.

Health care inequity, changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the future of diabetes care were just some of the topics discussed by experts in Endocrine Today’s 2020 cover stories.

Ethnic and racial disparities in health care was a key focus for Healio readers in 2020. Among the biggest news were studies showing race as a primary driver for poor outcomes and death in COVID-19.

Testing for primary aldosteronism was rare among a cohort of U.S. veterans with treatment-resistant hypertension, yet was associated with higher rates of evidence-based treatment and better longitudinal blood pressure control, data show.