Top stories in endocrinology: aggressive intervention for prediabetes, metabolic changes for weight loss maintenance

Among the top stories in endocrinology is a report that early, aggressive management is the best strategy to address prediabetes and its related comorbidities. Adults who use behavioral treatment programs as a weight loss strategy have lost 7% to 10% of their body weight, but have a difficult time maintaining that loss. Other stories include a study showing that some patients with osteoporosis experienced bone fractures when they stopped taking bisphosphonates, abnormalities found in human insulinomas hold clues for a drug that could reverse diabetes, and some adults with melanoma developed hypophysitis after being treated with the CTLA-4 immune checkpoint inhibitor.

In prediabetes, ‘the time is now’ for aggressive intervention

Early, aggressive management typically used to prevent complications of type 2 diabetes is also the best strategy to tackle prediabetes and its related comorbidities, according to a speaker at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists annual meeting. Read More.

Metabolic changes make weight loss maintenance difficult, but not impossible

According to the National Weight Control Registry, adults who pursue weight loss through behavioral treatment programs typically decrease their body weight by 7% to 10% during the first year of participation but maintain only about a 5% loss by a year or so after treatment. Read More.

Bone fracture risk rises during ‘drug holidays’

Approximately 15% of patients with osteoporosis who stop taking bisphosphonates experience bone fractures, according to study results published in Endocrine Practice. Read More.

In beta-cell regeneration, insulinomas hold ‘gold mine’ of key genomic data

Residual beta cells can be regenerated in people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and the genomic abnormalities found in human insulinomas hold the clues for novel drug targets to potentially reverse disease, according to a speaker at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists annual meeting. Read More.

Hypophysitis incidence high after ipilimumab therapy for melanoma

Among adults with melanoma treated with the CTLA-4 immune checkpoint inhibitor ipilimumab, nearly 13% developed hypophysitis after therapy, according to data presented at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists annual meeting. Read More.