Specialist in Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism

Diabetes

The main cause of diabetes is insufficient insulin secretion or insufficient sensitivity, so that the glucose in the blood cannot be converted into energy, thus the polysaccharide, will be accumulated, resulting in high blood glucose level, while the excess sugar will be excreted in urine. Hyperglycemia can cause acute and chronic complications.

Acute complications

If the blood sugar is too high and ketone is present in the body, the symptoms include vomiting, thirst, difficulty breathing and abdominal pain. Severe people may even be comatose and have a life-threatening emergency.

Chronic complications

Long-term high blood sugar levels can cause blood vessels and nerves damages and affect organ functions. Diabetic patients may have one or more of the following complications:

Retinopathy, cataracts, glaucoma – Diabetes is one of the main causes, and severe cases can lead to blindness. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness among people aged from 20 to 74. Patients are 25 times more likely to be blind than an average person.

Kidney disease – Diabetes is the most common causes of end-stage renal failure. About 20% to 40% of patients will develop kidney disease.

Heart disease and stroke – Patients have a higher chance of developing heart disease and stroke than an average person.

Nerves and peripheral blood vessels – The symptoms include calf pain, paralysis or ulceration of the feet. When the blood circulation is blocked, the ulcer is difficult to heal, and amputation may require in severe cases. Diabetes is the most common cause of non-traumatic truncation, and patients are 20 to 40 times more likely to have leg amputation than an average person.

Sexual dysfunction – As many as 10% of male diabetics have sexual dysfunction.

Endocrine disease

Endocrine diseases are related to a wide range of diseases, apart from most well-known hormonal disorders (generally meaning symptoms or diseases related to women’s menstruation or men’s sexual dysfunction), diabetes, thyroid disease (thyroid hyperthyroidism, attenuation of thyroid) or thyroid enlargement, osteoporosis, side effects caused by steroids overdose, and even obesity and its associated metabolic syndrome are closely related to the endocrine system.

Substances that are normally produced and secreted by the endocrine system and transported to whole body via the blood, can be collectively referred to as hormones. The main role of hormones is to maintain a stable internal environment inside the body (for example, blood glucose levels are maintained between 4 and 8 degrees).

Common endocrine disease

Pituitary gland

The pituitary gland is the gland that secretes the most hormones. Common diseases such as excessive secretion of prolactin will cause menstrual disorders and/or milk secretion from the nipple. Most of the causes are due to hyperplasia/benign tumors in cells responsible for secretion of lactating hormones, or other types of tumors in the pituitary gland. If treatment is delayed, there is a chance that the vision will be permanently damaged, while women will be prone to osteoporosis due to female hormonal imbalance.

Adrenal gland

The adrenal glands produce a variety of hormones that control the body’s metabolism, water and electrolyte balance. Common functional adrenal adenomas include Kang’s disease, pheochromocytoma, and Cushing’s syndrome. It can cause a variety of secondary high blood pressure, if it can be detected and treated early, it can be cured or relieved.

Thyroid

Thyroid disorder can cause diseases such as hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, thyroid swelling or thyroid tumors. In general, patients with hyperthyroidism have rapid heartbeat and weight loss. If it is not under controlled for a long period of time, it can damage the heart function and cause osteoporosis. If the thyroid function is dropped, it can cause weight gain and unresponsiveness. When the weather is cold or the patient is suffering from a critical illness, it is more likely to lead to hypothermia or coma.

Parathyroid gland

If the calcium index in the blood is too high or too low, it may cause constipation, stomach upset, vomiting and other symptoms. Most of the causes are caused by tumors causing hyperparathyroidism, or when treating hyperthyroidism, by surgery the parathyroid glands are destroyed when removing the thyroid gland, its function will be impaired.

Ovary (female) / Testicle (male)

It can cause diseases related to male/female hormone imbalance, such as impotence, polycystic ovarian syndrome and other diseases.

Adipose tissue

Obesity, metabolic syndrome (generally referred to as central obesity, ie for male, waist circumference > 90 cm, and for female, waist circumference > 80 cm, with any two of hypertension / hyperlipidemia / hyperglycemia) and osteoporosis, etc., are common endocrine Systemic disease.

Metabolic syndrome

It is a general term for high-risk pathogenic factors caused by obesity, including central obesity, high levels of triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar.

Osteoporosis

Women who have entered menopause will have a decrease in estrogen secretion, causing rapid loss of bone mass.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome

Common in obese women, patients with menstrual disorders or hairy symptoms.

Thyroid disease

The thyroid is responsible for regulating the body’s metabolism. Excessive secretion of thyroid hormone is a condition of hyperthyroidism (ie hyperthyroidism), while too little secretion is a manifestation of hypothyroidism.

Symptoms of hyperthyroidism are varied and the onset is slow. The symptoms are not necessarily to be rapid heartbeat, heat, temper, weight loss. Common symptoms are as follows:

Whole body condition: anxiety, impatience, irritability, nervousness, activeness, good appetite but weight loss

Hair: become sparse or even shedding

Eyes: exophthalmos, eye swelling, eye pain, fear of light

Neck: thick neck, thyroid enlargement, pressure on the throat

Circulatory system: palpitations, rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, arrhythmia

Digestion: a big increase in diet

Reproductive: menstrual disorders, infertility, miscarriage, premature delivery

Hypothyroidism

Common symptoms of hypothyroidism such as fatigue, cold intolerance, fat swelling, slow heartbeat, menstrual disorders, hoarse voice and so on. In most cases, complications appear after receiving radioactive iodine or surgical treatment due to immune system problems.

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a condition of bone metabolism, mainly due to bone loss, which causes bones to become fragile and greatly increases the chance of fracture. Osteoporosis caused by menopause mainly affects women who have entered menopause; with the loss of female hormones, bones lost slowly. On the other hand, osteoporosis is also are affected caused by the aging and the loss of calcium; both men and women are affected.

Osteoporosis itself does not have any symptoms. If you feel pain, it is usually caused by a fracture. The most common fracture sites include the femur, spine, and forearm. The patient is prone to a minor collision or a femur fracture due to a fall.

If osteoporosis is confirmed, the patient can slow down the rate of bone loss through diet and exercise. Treatments will be recommended by doctors according to the patient’s condition.

Gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes is diabetes in pregnant women during pregnancy, cause by:

(1) Pregnant women have a great appetite during pregnancy, and their demand for insulin is relatively high, but the pancreas cannot secrete enough insulin as the body needs.

(2) The body secretes some hormones that compete with insulin during pregnancy, such as lutein, estrogen and growth hormone secreted by the placenta, which reduces the efficacy of insulin in the body.

Because of insufficient insulin secretion and its efficacy, the body is not able to convert the sugar absorbed in the food to energy, excess sugar causes blood glucose to rise, causing gestational diabetes.

People who are more likely to develop gestational diabetes:

(1) Physically obese
(2) Those who have produced giant infants (baby weighs more than 4 Kg)
(3) Those who have had premature birth and stillbirth
(4) Those who have had gestational diabetes
(5) Pregnant women over the age of 30
(6) Diabetics in the family

Method for diagnosing gestational diabetes

In each prenatal examination, the test of urine sugar is included. If the sugar is found in the urine twice in a row, doctors will arrange the pregnant women to make a 75-gram oral glucose tolerance test. In addition, doctors will arrange pregnant women who are more likely to develop gestational diabetes to have regular oral glucose tolerance test. The examinations are usually carried out during the 24th to 28th week of pregnancy to help diagnose early pregnancy diabetes and treat them appropriately.

The importance early detection of gestational diabetes

Early detection of gestational diabetes is particularly important for fetal growth because excessive blood glucose in the mother’s body stimulates the fetus to produce large amounts of insulin. Excessive insulin will accelerate the growth of the fetus and become a giant baby, which will lead to difficulties in labouring and even death. On the other hand, it may also cause the baby to have a “hypoglycemia” risk during his or her lifetime. Therefore, early detection of excessive blood sugar and control, can make the fetus grow normally, and a smooth labouring.