Key workers in vascular medicine and biology apply state-of-the-art techniques in cell and molecular biology to study the endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells. The distinguished scientists and clinicians open a new area of endocrinology, which sees the vasculature and kidney as endocrine organs and sheds new light on the hormonal regulation of the cardiovascular system. They also add significantly to our current understanding of the autocrine, paracrine, and endocrine regulation of vascular function in health and in those vascular disease states that accompany diabetes mellitus,...

Nineteen cutting-edge review articles by leading authorities provide a comprehensive overview of the normal function of the pituitary and of the diagnosis and treatment of pituitary disorders. Topics range from normal hypothalamic-pituitary interactions and the processes that disrupt them to new advances in pituitary imaging and appropriate surgical intervention in various pituitary disorders. Among the diseases discussed are congenital hypopituitarism, deficiency states, strategies for evaluating patients with hyperprolactinemia, Cushing's syndrome, acromegaly, and glycoprotein pituitary...

Stuart Handwerger, MD and a distinguished panel of clinicians and experts review the most significant recent developments in molecular and cellular biology, powerful advances that have produced new diagnostic methods and improved treatments for many pediatric endocrine diseases. Topics range from the growth hormone/prolactin/placental lactogen gene family and their regulation of growth, to steroid hormones, sexual development, and mineral corticoid action. Additional chapters examine the pathophysiology of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, the molecular genetics of thyroid cancer, the...

In Adrenal Disorders, a panel of distinguished physicians and researchers select the most relevant new findings and integrate them into the existing body of clinical knowledge on adrenal pathologies. The book includes important reviews of disturbances in cortisol homeostasis, and new concepts regarding adrenal tumors and hereditary adrenal diseases. Also discussed are mineralocorticoids and the syndromes of mineralocortoid excess and aldosterone synthase deficiency. Authoritative and insightful, Adrenal Disorders provides physicians and scientists with a comprehensive, state-of-the-art...

"Theoretically, one should obtain essentially the same clinical picture from failure of an end-organ to respond to a hormone as from a decreased production or absence of said hormone. " With these words, Fuller Albright began his now classic paper describing a novel disease, pseudo hypoparathyroidism (PHP), and a novel concept, hormone resis tance as a cause of disease. Soon, other hormone resistance disorders such as nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI) were recognized, and the concept was extended to resistance to other substances such as calcium ions in familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia...

A comprehensive, cutting-edge review of the complex interactions between maternal and fetal-placental tissues that control the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy, the proper development of the fetus, the birth process, and the behavioral aspects of bonding between mother and newborn. Expert researchers review the endocrine and physiological events that culminate in the delivery of offspring, and provide a solid base of comparative information on the menstrual cycle of primates, including humans. They also discuss the sources and functions of both steroid and protein hormones from the...

Leading medical specialists critically review for the general practitioner the latest techniques for the clinical management of diabetic neuropathy. These authoritative contributors focus on the practical aspects of diabetic neuropathy and describe in detail the treatments that are currently available or expected to become available in the near future. They also include concise discussions of the causes of diabetic neuropathy and highlight the relatively unknown features of neuropathy that can significantly impact a patient's life. Comprehensive, up-to-date bibliographies at the end of each...

Etienne-Emile Baulieu, the discoverer of neurosteroids, and a panel of distinguished scientists and clinical researchers exhaustively and critically review all facets of neurosteroids involved in behavior, stress, memory, depression, anxiety, aging of the brain, and neurodegenerative diseases. These contributors illuminate the role of neurosteroids in brain development and plasticity and detail their neuromodulatory influence on GABAA, ionotropic glutamate receptors, acetylcholine receptors, sigma receptors, and calcium channels. Clearly pointing the way toward novel pharmaceutical agents...

Gerald Reaven, the discoverer of Syndrome X, and a panel of world-class investigators thoughtfully summarize our current understanding of how insulin resistance and its compensating hyperinsulinemia play a major role in the pathogenesis and clinical course of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease-the so-called diseases of Western civilization. These distinguished authorities detail, for the first time, the pathophysiological consequences and the clinical syndromes, excluding Type 2 diabetes, related to insulin resistance. They also examine the genetic and lifestyle factors that...

A cutting-edge review of how derangements in the hormonal and growth factor mechanisms controlling normal mammary development lead to breast cancer. Drawing on the multidisciplinary expertise of leading authorities, the book highlights the roles of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, spelling out the importance of autocrine/paracrine loops (e.g., stromal epithelial interactions) in supporting breast cancer cell proliferation and the progression to hormone independence. The book's many prominent contributors also illuminate significant recent advances in the biochemistry and physiology of...