Publications by authors named "Koukkou E"

Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to investigate how the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis responds to thyroid hormones in pregnant women, specifically focusing on the relationship between central sensitivity to these hormones (measured by the Thyroid Feedback Quantile-based Index or TFQI) and urinary iodine (UI) levels.
  • A total of 1,102 blood and urine samples were collected from healthy pregnant women, assessing levels of TSH, fT4, anti-thyroid antibodies, and UI across different trimesters and postpartum.
  • Results showed a negative correlation between TFQI and UI levels, indicating higher central sensitivity to thyroid hormones when UI is lower; interestingly, this relationship varied depending on the trimester and them
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Transgender persons need to regularly interact with health services and practitioners for both gender-transition purposes and routine care. Communication between clinicians and patients is a key element of health care. However, barriers to communication with transgender people in the health care context are usual.

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The development of type 2 diabetes mellitus is a major contributing factor to the worldwide health burden of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Insulin resistance, subclinical inflammation, dyslipidemia, obesity, and hypertension are all factors in this reciprocal interaction that contribute to the development of MASLD, which includes hepatocellular carcinoma, advanced fibrosis/cirrhosis, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). A new risk factor for MASLD/NASH that affects the course of the disease independently throughout life is gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

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Insulin plays a central role in blood glucose regulation, with insulin resistance contributing to the progression of prediabetes to diabetes, underscoring the importance of early intervention. Androgens, primarily synthesized in the testis under pituitary gland influence, impact male reproductive function. Testosterone, crucial for sexual development and secondary male characteristics, declines with age, leading to issues like anemia, sexual dysfunction, and reduced bone density.

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Gestational diabetes is typically diagnosed in the late second or third trimester of pregnancy. It is one of the most common metabolic disorders among expectant mothers, with potential serious short- and long-term complications for both maternal and offspring health. C-peptide is secreted from pancreatic beta-cells into circulation in equimolar amounts with insulin.

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Background: The occurrence of thyroid cancer (TC) has increased in recent decades. Exposure to outdoor artificial light at night (ALN) is associated with an increased risk of cancer.

Aim: To investigated the impact of ALN, as a significant environmental pollutant, on TC incidence worldwide.

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Aging is a challenging process for people with gender nonconformity. Indeed, the older transgender population faces several disparities in accessing and using health care and social support services. Furthermore, the clinical management of gender transition in later life is empirical since clear research evidence is lacking.

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The transgender (trans) population includes individuals with gender identities more fittingly aligned with the opposite sex or with an alternative that transcends the classical dipole of male/female. Hormonal treatment in transgender individuals aims to suppress the secretion of endogenous sex steroids and replace them with the steroids of the desired gender. The mainstay of gender-affirming treatment in transgender males is testosterone, whereas for transgender females it is estrogen, usually combined with an anti-androgen or a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist if testes are present.

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Melatonin is widely available as a supplement, usually for sleep disorders. The consumption of melatonin supplements has increased considerably in recent years. An overlooked aspect of melatonin's administration is the resulting increase in prolactin secretion, its action on hypothalamic dopaminergic neurons.

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: Transgender people often experience social exclusion and transphobic attitudes, which have an adverse impact on their socioeconomic life and health status. Within health services, -discriminatory practices and mistreatment derive from the lack of cultural competence by -healthcare providers. : This article features existing barriers in the provision of healthcare to transgender populations and suggests approaches to manage the relevant challenges.

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Transgender persons constitute a non-negligible percentage of the general population. Physical gender-transitioning in trans persons is mainly achieved with hormonal cross-sex therapy and sex reassignment surgeries that aim to align bodily appearance with gender identity. Hormonal treatment acts via suppressing the secretion of the endogenous sex hormones and replacing them with the hormones of the desired sex.

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Background: Gender dysphoria is characterised by a sense of distress because of discordance between the self-perception of gender identity and the assigned sex. Hormonal treatment of transgender males uses testosterone to induce and preserve masculinisation.

Objective: The study investigated the safety of testosterone therapy in transgender males.

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Introduction: Normal thyroid status throughout pregnancy is important for both maternal and fetal health. Despite the bulk of contemporary research honing on thyroid function in gestation and the relevant disorders, there are still gaps in our current knowledge about the etiology and treatment of thyroid diseases in pregnant women.

Areas Covered: This article analyzes the adaptation of the thyroid gland to gestational physiological changes and attempts to explain the effect of several factors on thyroid function in pregnancy.

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Progesterone is an endogenous steroid hormone with an important role for the physiology of the female reproductive system and the mammary gland. It has additional significant actions in other tissues, such as the cardiovascular system, the central nervous system, and bones. The present article explores potential clinical implications from the addition of bioidentical progesterone to gender-affirming treatment of trans women.

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Background: Google Trends searches for symptoms and/or diseases may reflect actual disease epidemiology. Recently, Google Trends searches for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated terms have been linked to the epidemiology of COVID-19. Some studies have linked COVID-19 with thyroid disease.

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Background And Aims: Betamethasone's effect on glycemia in twin pregnancies, with or without gestational diabetes mellitus, has not been adequately investigated.

Methods: We assessed the glycemic profile of 30 women with twin pregnancies after in-vitro-fertilization who were given betamethasone.

Results: The majority of women were treated eventually with insulin to maintain glycemia.

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The effect of thyroid function on semen parameters has been studied in pathological conditions in small studies. With this research work, we aimed to study thyroid hormone effects on semen parameters in 130 men who were evaluated for couple subfertility. Our study was cross-sectional.

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The effect of cortisol on dreams has been scarcely studied. The aim of this exploratory study was to assess the possible effect of cortisol levels on dream recall/affect, considering, in female subjects, their menstrual cycle phase. Fifteen men and fifteen women were recruited.

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Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with hypertensive disorders in pregnancy. Alpha-methyl-DOPA (αMD) is a commonly used medication for hypertension in pregnant women. This medication may be associated with alteration in insulin resistance and glucose homeostasis.

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The metabolic profile variability of women with diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1) during breastfeeding, leads to a reassessment in managing glycemia, mainly to prevent hypoglycemia. In this retrospective study we assessed insulin needs, vis-à-vis breastfeeding in DM1. A 10.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Over 30% of Germans face iodine deficiency, leading to health issues like goiter, and the economic impact of this deficiency is not well-established.
  • - A comprehensive cost analysis was conducted for various treatments and productivity losses in 2018, revealing that costs could be high for different IDDs, including over €14,000 annually for intellectual disability cases.
  • - Implementing universal salt iodization might save costs by preventing a certain number of IDD cases, but a thorough health-economic evaluation is necessary before making recommendations.
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Iodine deficiency is one of the most prevalent causes of intellectual disability and can lead to impaired thyroid function and other iodine deficiency disorders (IDDs). Despite progress made on eradicating iodine deficiency in the last decades in Europe, IDDs are still prevalent. Currently, evidence-based information on the benefit/harm balance of IDD prevention in Europe is lacking.

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