Parental practices and children's lifestyle correlates of childhood overweight/obesity in Europe: The Feel4Diabetes study.

Background: Parental influences on children's eating and physical activity (PA) and consequently on their weight are fundamental. The present study aimed to identify the predominant correlates of childhood overweight/obesity among a variety of parental practices and children's lifestyle indices in a large sample of children in Europe.

Methods: Families from low socio-economic status regions were recruited through schools, located in six European countries (Belgium, Finland, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria and Hungary).

A lifestyle pattern characterised by high consumption of sweet and salty snacks, sugar sweetened beverages and sedentary time is associated with blood pressure in families at risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus in Europe. The Feel4Diabetes Study.

Background: Individuals from families at high-risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are also at high risk for hypertension (HTN) and cardiovascular disease. Studies identifying lifestyle patterns (LPs) combining dietary, physical activity or sedentary variables and examining their possible role with respect to developing blood pressure (BP) are limited. The present study aimed to examine the association of different LPs with BP levels in families at high risk for T2DM in Europe.

Prevalence and Socioeconomic Correlates of Adult Obesity in Europe: The Feel4Diabetes Study.

To effectively tackle obesity, it is necessary to identify all specific socioeconomic factors which contribute to its development. We aimed to highlight the prevalence of adult overweight/obesity in European countries and investigate the association of various socioeconomic factors and their accumulative effect on overweight/obesity status. Cross-sectional data from the Feel4Diabetes study for 24,562 adults residing in low socioeconomic areas were collected, representing Belgium, Finland, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, and Hungary.

Associations between soft-drink consumption and lifestyle patterns in overweight and obese European adults: Feel4Diabetes Study.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify lifestyle patterns that are characteristic of overweight and obese European adults in the context of educational level.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of dietary data from 1235 men and 10 343 women. Dietary intake, educational level, and physical activity were assessed using questionnaires.

Children's food choices are highly dependent on patterns of parenting practices and food availability at home in families at high risk for type 2 diabetes in Europe: Cross-sectional results from the Feel4Diabetes study.

Background: Food parenting practices, behaviours and food availability at home are associated with children's food choices; however, these associations have been mainly studied for each parenting practice separately and focused mostly on healthy populations. The aim of the study was to identify patterns of parenting practices (including data regarding food availability at home, food and physical activity-related behaviours and rewards) and to investigate their cross-sectional associations with children's food choices in families at high risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Methods: Data of parents and children (n = 2278), from the Feel4Diabetes study conducted in six European countries, were collected using validated questionnaires.

Sociodemographic, anthropometric, and lifestyle correlates of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes in europe: The Feel4Diabetes study.

Background And Aims: The current work aimed to identify the predominant correlates of prediabetes and T2DM among a variety of socio-demographic, anthropometric and lifestyle indices, in a large sample of adults from families at high risk for T2DM.

Methods And Results: In this cross-sectional study, 2816 adults were recruited from low-socioeconomic areas in high-income countries (HICs) (Belgium-Finland), HICs under austerity measures (Greece-Spain), and low/middle-income countries (LMICs) (Bulgaria-Hungary). A positive association between the male sex (OR, 95% C.

Longitudinal Associations between Food Parenting Practices and Dietary Intake in Children: The Feel4Diabetes Study.

Food parenting practices (FPPs) have an important role in shaping children's dietary behaviors. This study aimed to investigate cross-sectional and longitudinal associations over a two-year follow-up between FPP and dietary intake and compliance with current recommendations in 6- to 11-year-old European children. A total of 2967 parent-child dyads from the Feel4Diabetes study, a randomized controlled trial of a school and community-based intervention, (50.

Standardised data collection for clinical follow-up and assessment of outcomes in differences of sex development (DSD): recommendations from the COST action DSDnet.

The treatment and care of individuals who have a difference of sex development (DSD) have been revised over the past two decades and new guidelines have been published. In order to study the impact of treatments and new forms of management in these rare and heterogeneous conditions, standardised assessment procedures across centres are needed. Diagnostic work-up and detailed genital phenotyping are crucial at first assessment.

Adult growth hormone deficiency in CEE region: Heterogeneity of the patient pathway.

Objectives: Adult growth hormone deficiency (AGHD) is a rare disease characterised by abnormal body composition, reduced strength and exercise capacity and impaired psychological wellbeing. An advisory board of leading Central and Eastern European (CEE) endocrinologists was assembled to gain insights into the status of AGHD care in the CEE region. Topics of discussion included the position of adult hypopituitarism/AGHD in health system priorities, availability and affordability of treatments, awareness of AGHD, practice guidelines used in CEE countries and provisions for long-term care of patients.

Assessment of glucose variability in subjects with prediabetes.

Unlabelled: The aim of the study was to assess glucose variability in subjects with prediabetes by means of CGM.

Material And Methods: 32 subjects with prediabetes - mean age 56.6 ± 9.

Long-term follow-up of a female patient with non-classical 11β-hydroxylase deficiency and two novel mutations in CYP11B1.

11β-Hydroxylase deficiency is the second most common enzyme disorder after 21-hydroxylase deficiency causing congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). In females, the clinical phenotype of CAH classic forms is associated with ambiguous genitalia, virilization and hypertension, while most common complaints in milder non-classic forms include hirsutism, acne, menstrual disturbances, and infertility. Herein, we present clinical and genetic characteristics of an adult woman with 11β-hydroxylase deficiency, hypertension and infertility; she has been followed up from her first pregnancy to her early menopause.

Caring for individuals with a difference of sex development (DSD): a Consensus Statement.

The term differences of sex development (DSDs; also known as disorders of sex development) refers to a heterogeneous group of congenital conditions affecting human sex determination and differentiation. Several reports highlighting suboptimal physical and psychosexual outcomes in individuals who have a DSD led to a radical revision of nomenclature and management a decade ago. Whereas the resulting recommendations for holistic, multidisciplinary care seem to have been implemented rapidly in specialized paediatric services around the world, adolescents often experience difficulties in finding access to expert adult care and gradually or abruptly cease medical follow-up.

Cushing's Syndrome: A Historic Review of the Treatment Strategies and Corresponding Outcomes in a Single Tertiary Center over the Past Half-Century.

Cushing's syndrome (CS) is associated with serious comorbidities and an increased mortality rate that could be reduced only if strict biochemical control is achieved. The aim of this study was to show the 50-year experience of a single tertiary center in the management of CS patients - the different treatment modalities used over the years and the corresponding outcomes. It was a retrospective study of a large cohort of patients from the Bulgarian CS database: 613 patients (374 with ACTH-dependent and 239 with ACTH-independent CS).

Inherited Thrombophilias Could Influence the Reproductive Outcome in Women with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease associated with different reproductive complications in the affected women. Inherited thrombophilias are genetic factors increasing the risk for thromboembolism and recurrent pregnancy loss, but their influence on other reproductive disturbances in SLE patients has not been completely clarified. Two hundred and twenty-three Caucasian women (112 with SLE and 111 controls) were included in the study.

Phenotypic spectrum of POLR3B mutations: isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism without neurological or dental anomalies.

Background: A constellation of neurodegenerative disorders exists (Gordon Holmes syndrome, 4H leucodystrophy, Boucher-Neuhauser syndrome) in which patients suffer from both neurological disease (typically manifested by ataxia) and reproductive failure (idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH)). POLR3B, which encodes the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase III (pol III), and POLR3A, which forms the pol III catalytic centre, are associated with 4H leucodystrophy.

Methods: Whole exome sequencing was performed on a large cohort of subjects with IHH (n=565).

Gender-Specific Effect of CYP2C8*3 on the Risk of Essential Hypertension in Bulgarian Patients.

We conducted a case-control study to determine the contribution of polymorphisms in CYP2C8 (CYP2C8*3) and CYP2J2 (CYP2J2*7) to increased risk of coronary artery disease and essential hypertension in Bulgarians. The current analysis included 192 unrelated hypertensive patients, 261 patients with angiographically documented CAD (153 with myocardial infarction and 108 without myocardial infarction), and 496 population controls. The CYP2C8*3 and CYP2J2*7 polymorphisms were genotyped by TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assay.

Evaluation of prognostic utility of MIB-1 and p53 expression in pituitary adenomas: correlations with clinical behaviour and follow-up results.

Pituitary adenomas (PAs) show a broad clinicomorphological spectrum. The proliferation activity, evaluated by MIB-1 labelling index (LI), and p53 expression have been pointed as predictive markers for invasiveness and progression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the proliferation rate and p53 expression and to look for any relationships with the clinical behaviour and follow-up results in a series of Bulgarian patients with PAs.

Treatment outcome results from the Bulgarian Acromegaly Database: adjuvant dopamine agonist therapy is efficient in less than one fifth of non-irradiated patients.

Objective: We described biochemical outcome in regards to different treatment modalities in patients with acromegaly in Bulgaria.

Patients And Methods: It was a retrospective analysis using data from the Bulgarian Acromegaly Database. Patients with eligible data on at least one treatment modality were included in the study.

Disease control and treatment modalities have impact on quality of life in acromegaly evaluated by Acromegaly Quality of Life (AcroQoL) Questionnaire.

Various factors influence quality of life (QoL) in acromegaly. Whether disease control and treatment approach are related to QoL is still a matter of debate. The aim of the present study was to evaluate QoL in patients with acromegaly using the disease-specific Acromegaly Quality of Life Questionnaire in respect to disease activity, treatment modalities, and other factors.

Case Report: A case report of acromegaly associated with primary aldosteronism.

We describe a patient with a rare combination of acromegaly and primary aldosteronism. A 37 year-old female patient was diagnosed with acromegaly on the basis of typical clinical, hormonal and image characteristics. She presented also with one of the most common co-morbidities - arterial hypertension.

Decreased daily melatonin levels in women with systemic lupus erythematosus - a short report.

Background: The neuroendocrine system is known to influence immunity, but the precise interactions between different hormones and autoimmune disorders remain obscure.

Aims: The present study aimed to investigate the role of daily serum melatonin concentrations in the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in women.

Study Design: Case-control study.

Testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin and the metabolic syndrome in men: an individual participant data meta-analysis of observational studies.

Background: Low total testosterone (TT) and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) concentrations have been associated with the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in men, but the reported strength of association varies considerably.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate whether associations differ across specific subgroups (according to age and body mass index (BMI)) and individual MetS components.

Data Sources: Two previously published meta-analyses including an updated systematic search in PubMed and EMBASE.

Influence of serum levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone and anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies, age and gender on depression as measured by the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale.

Unlabelled: The AIM of the present study was to explore the level of depression in the respondents using the Zung self-rating depression scale (SDS) and find a correlation with the levels of the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and the anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies (anti-TPO), the age and gender of the participants.

Patients And Methods: 2401 subjects aged 20-84 yrs were included, 1344 of them female aged 48.7 +/- 14.

Does an Association between the Idiopathic Left-Sided Varicocele and Eye Colour Exist?

The possible interrelation between male reproductive disorders and iris pigmentation is poorly understood. We have found a link between eye colour and the existence of adolescent varicocele. Therefore, we aimed to extend our investigation on the relationship between the eye colour and varicocele in adult men.