Endocrine System Dysfunction???

[bphata@sedona.net (Bill Patterson)]

Folks,
The following was posted to sci.med.aids and it seemed to me that it should
have been posted to the DIOXIN LIST. After the great article DIOXIN -
CO-FACTOR FOR AIDS, I though I would see what you all had to say about this.
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Newsgroups: sci.med.aids  6/17/96
Subject: Check Your Endrocrine Function

The need for hormonal therapy for HIV is underlined with the
information in this article. HIV+  are 37 times more likely than
the general population to need androgen replacement therapy.

UPI / NATASHA WANCHEK wrote:

SAN FRANCISCO, June 14 (UPI) -- Georgetown University researchers
reported Friday a study showing curable endocrine problems were
far more frequent in HIV-infected patients than in the general
public, explaining some of the undiagnosed ailments common among
AIDS patients.

The study of 50 HIV-positive patients, presented at the
International Congress of Endocrinology in San Francisco, found
they were far more likely to develop adrenal insufficiency,
hypogonadism and thyroid dysfunction -- conditions that often go
undiagnosed in these HIV patients. Hypogonadism, for example, was
at least 37 times more frequent in the study group than in the
general population.

Endocrine disorders often are not detected in HIV-patients based
on clinical histories alone, leaving the individual with no
treatment, said Dr. Terry Taylor, the study's lead researcher.

Many of the symptoms of adrenal insufficiency, for example, are
common in HIV patients, including nausea, fatigue, dizziness and
abdominal complaints.

"If most people had these symptoms, they would go to the doctor,
but these are very normal symptoms for people with HIV," Taylor
said. "The symptoms don't pop out."

Although the clues are not always obvious, by examining the
symptoms in the context of other signs of an endocrine problem,
including a low blood-glucose level, physicians ultimately should
be able to identify more of the resulting metabolic imbalances,
she said.

In the Georgetown University study, conducted with 50 consecutive
consenting HIV-positive patients in the university's health
center, cases of endocrine Taylor found a 6-percent prevalence of
adrenal insufficiency, a 37-percent prevalence of hypogonadism --
compared to less than one percent of each in the general public
-- and a 12-percent prevalence of thyroid dysfunction.

Endocrine problems are curable, she said, and can lead to a
better quality of life, and in the case of adrenal insufficiency,
possibly prolong life.

"Physicians just are not aggressively screening for this very
treatable disorder," she said.

Androgen deficiency and growth hormone resistance may also
contribute to the critical loss of lean body mass, which is often
associated with AIDS, researchers said.

In a separate study, Steven Grinspoon, a Massachusetts General
Hospital endocrinologist, found that in men with AIDS Wasting
Syndrome, the decline in testosterone is associated with lean
body mass and loss of muscle.

Because growth hormone levels are increased as weight decreased,
the findings indicate a resistance to growth hormone, Grinspoon
said.

By understanding this syndrome, he said, therapies can be
designed to reverse the wasting process.

"This research points to a role for endocrinologists in the care
of patients who are living with AIDS," said Endocrine Society
President Lynn Loriaux. "Proper care of the body's systems --
including the all-inclusive hormone system -- can enhance the
quality of life for AIDS patients."

Michael Mooney
West Hollywood, California - The Creative City

Nutrition Professors Eaten For Breakfast
Job #1 - Destroying Myths

See the Anabolic Steroid/HIV/And Other Medical Therapies
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