Endocrine Society Meetings: The Best of the Best

As you read this issue in the middle of summer, there is certainly no sign of any of the typical summer doldrums and that is largely due to the amazing events the Endocrine Society is known for around the world.

Not only does the July issue feature research presented at the first-ever all virtual ENDO 2021, but we are also highlighting what attendees can expect from the Endocrine Society’s Clinical Endocrinology Update (CEU) 2021 meeting held from September 10 to 12. Like the above-mentioned ENDO 2021, both CEU 2021 and the Endocrine Board Review 2021 — taking place September 22 – 24 — will be all-virtual.

First off, as we look back at the voluminous amount of research that was presented at ENDO 2021, we have homed in on studies that focused on pediatric endocrinology:

• Kids in Lockdown: How COVID-19 Affected Children with Type 1 Diabetes – Kelly Horvath takes us into the homes of those young patients with COVID-19 who were also dealing with type 1 diabetes. “There is some data available that shows both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can be associated with increased risk of complications with COVID-19 in adults as well as independently associated with a higher risk of in hospital death from COVID-19,” says Manish Raisingani, MD, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Little Rock, Ark., “but there is very limited data available for pediatric type 1 diabetes and COVID-19 infections.”
• Mother and Child: Pregnancy Exposures Can Have Unintended Effects in Later Life for Both Offspring and Mother – Here Horvath looks at two separate studies that examined the long-lasting effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on the health of not only the offspring, but the mothers who may have been exposed during pregnancy. “Our study is expanding that vulnerable period to also really appreciate the fact that we can’t just worry about the fetus, we should also worry about the mom. says Laura N. Vandenberg, PhD, School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass. “We have not spent nearly enough attention thinking about how EDCs might affect their health. This study builds on work we have published in the last two or three years with some other chemicals that are saying exactly this: mom matters, too.”

Now, as we look ahead to September, we have included highlights of what you can expect from this year’s multilayered CEU 2021. Long regarded as one of the most important educational events for clinical endocrinologists around the world, this year’s CEU will be another all-virtual conference that will prevent attendees with the latest advances and critical issues in the field. We have highlighted a couple of the sessions in this issue:

• Does Testosterone Therapy Have a Place in Treating Women? – Eric Seaborg delves into this controversy as he details the talking points from one of this years CEU Debates. The speakers will be Susan R. Davis, MBBS, FRACP, and Margaret E. Wierman, MD, two contributors to a global consensus statement who will discuss when you should and should not treat female patients with testosterone therapy in the session “Endocrine Debate: Testosterone Therapy in Women: Never or Sometimes?” No doubt if this year’s meeting were in-person, this session would be “standing room only!”
• Fatty Liver Disease: What Endocrinologists Need to Know – Senior editor Derek Bagley speaks to Kenneth Cusi, MD, chief, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla., about how the rates of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease are rising at an alarming rate, along with obesity and diabetes rates. Cusi’s CEU session, “What Endocrinologists Need to Know about Diagnosis and Management of Fatty Liver,” he will detail how to identify fatty liver in patients early on as well as how to treat this complex disease.

For more information about CEU 2021 and EBR 2021, both taking place in September, go to www.endocrine.org/ceu2021 or www.endocrine.org/ebr2021 to find out more.