Intragastric balloons are steadily gaining popularity among the medical treatments available for obesity. Their efficacy and safety are reinforced by growing body of evidence obtained around the globe. Intragastric balloons are now considered one of the safest and most effective medical procedures for weight reduction. Additionally, the reduced potential for side effects and low invasiveness (compared to bariatric surgeries) are important considerations. This book is edited by renowned surgeons and endoscopists from Brazil, a country known for its reputation on the field of bariatric endoscopy and surgery. Such reputation is especially valid where the use of intragastric balloons is concerned. These devices, approved by the FDA only in 2015, have been used in Brazil since the 1990s, attesting to Brazilian expertise in the field. This book describes the various types of intragastric balloons used for the treatment of obesity, an alternative to bariatric surgery and other more invasive methods. It addresses their indications, procedures and outcomes, providing readers an overview of the therapeutic options available worldwide. It is divided into seven main sections: I - Introductory Issues; II - Devices; III - Technical Procedures and Related Issues; IV - Acute Complications and Treatment; V - Chronic Complications and Treatment; VI - Special Populations; and VII - Miscellaneous. This structure helps to promote a better knowledge construction and a reasonable flow of ideas throughout the book, guiding the reader from introductory topics to surgical procedures and complications. The book ultimately intends to offer an essential reference guide for all physicians and surgeons interested in the treatment of obese patients. It is intended for both experienced professionals looking for in-depth information and for trainees and residents seeking to broaden their perspectives concerning the treatment of obesity.

This volume presents and analyses the ongoing arguments, controversies, challenges and debates on thyroid disease with a view to clarifying some uncertainties, and to making suggestions that will help resolve others.Issues such as thyroid disease during pregnancy, Hashimoto's disease, Hurthle cell lesions, solitary thyroid nodules, retrosternal goiter, thyroid cancer, recurrent thyroid disease, thyroidectomy techniques, post-thyroidectomy hypocalcemia, and thyroid auto-transplantation are thoroughly explored. Richly illustrated, the book offers an invaluable tool for all specialists and trainees entrusted with the care of patients suffering from thyroid disease.

This comprehensive book on Endocrine Surgery covers disorders of thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal glands along with neuroendocrine tumors of pancreas and gastrointestinal tract. It is a comprehensive, up-to-date treatise covering embryology, anatomy, etiology, clinical manifestations, diagnoses, and treatment modalities of surgical endocrine diseases. The authors explore the pertinent surgical endocrinology topics with a South Asian perspective. Color illustrations, flowcharts and tables make the topics lucid for professionals. This book provides the essential information surgeons require for evaluation and management of patients, both with straight forward, and complex endocrine problems. Key Features Focusses on concise yet comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of surgical endocrine diseases Discusses Robot Assisted Endocrine Surgery and explores its impact on healthcare finances Highlights the difference between practices used in western and resource limited countries by incorporating a South Asian perspective for region specific diseases.

This textbook presents for the first time a comprehensive body of the latest knowledge in the field of neuropeptides and their action on energy balance. It contains a detailed and comprehensive account of the specific hypothalamic peptides in regards to their roles in energy balance, food intake control and co-morbidities, to better understand the patho-physiology of obesity. The textbook includes an examination the history of the evolution of human society from a thin to the obese phenotype and, within that context, how modern society habits and industrial food production did not respect the evolutionary trait resulting in changes in the energy balance set point. It provides a novel conceptualization of the problem of obesity when considering the biochemistry of peptide hormones and entertaining novel ideas on multiple approaches to the problems of energy balance, as well as demonstrates and explains why alterations in pro-hormone processing are paramount to understand metabolic disease. This text is excellent material for teaching graduate and medical school courses, as well as a valuable resource for researchers in biochemistry, cell, and molecular biology, neuroscientists, physician endocrinologists, and nutritionists.

This book offers one of the most comprehensive reviews in the field of gastrointestinal (GI) physiology, guiding readers on a journey through the complete digestive tract, while also highlighting related organs and glandular systems. It is not solely limited to organ system physiology, and related disciplines like anatomy and histology, but also examines the molecular and cellular processes that keep the digestive system running. As such, the book provides extensive information on the molecular, cellular, tissue, organ, and system levels of functions in the GI system. Chapters on the roles of the gut as an endocrine, exocrine and neural organ, as well as its microbiome functions, broaden readers' understanding of the multi-organ networks in the human body. To help illustrate the interconnections between the physiological concepts, principles and clinical presentations, it outlines clinical examples such as pathologies that link basic science with clinical practice in special "clinical correlates" sections. Covering both traditional and contemporary topics, it is a valuable resource for biomedical students, as well as healthcare and scientific professionals.

Osteoporosis is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among the elderly. The rationale for The Osteoporosis Primer is to provide an introductory text that relates the clinical presentation of osteoporosis to its molecular biochemical basis. The text has been organized into four sections that deal with the molecular/cellular components of bone, the development of peak bone mass, the pathophysiology of aging bone and finally, how all of these relate to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of osteoporosis. The international team of authors includes many leading clinicians and scientists who have provided the reader with a concise, yet comprehensive, synopsis of bone development and skeletal homeostasis. This book will be an essential introduction for individuals working on osteoporosis, including students and doctors considering a career related to metabolic bone disease, general practitioners, geriatricians, rheumatologists, and endocrinologists.

Hormonal influences, both natural and iatrogenic, are implicated in the most frequent health issues of women. Endometrial cancer is now the most common gynecologic cancer in the United States and the industrialized world. This cancer is strongly related to hormonal and metabolic factors. In addition, breast cancer treated with hormone therapy (Tamoxifen) may, in some cases, be associated with uterine pathology. Hormone therapy is used to improve the physiological effects and counteract abnormal and deleterious effects of "natural" hormonal activity. Millions of women receive hormone therapy at some point of their life: using oral contraceptives, reproductive technology, treatment for post-menopausal symptoms, among other uses. This book addresses a range of women's health issues, from fertility to neoplasms, and their relationship with natural and iatrogenic hormonal effects. Chapters include clinical and pathological descriptions, theoretical and practical medical issues, and original studies and cases. Controversial issues in certain hormone therapies are presented with updated concepts based on clinical studies and novel statistical methods. The book will be useful for specialized and general physicians, oncologists, endocrinologists, researchers, medical students, and others in the field of women's health.

This book provides the first comprehensive overview of the emerging field of interdisciplinary salivary bioscience. It serves as a foundational reference guide to the collection, analysis, and interpretation of salivary data, as well as its myriad applications in medicine, surveillance and public health. The ease and non-invasive nature of saliva collection makes it highly useful in diverse fields such as pediatrics, dentistry, neuroscience, psychology, animal welfare and precision medicine. This book introduces students and scientists alike to the vast potential of salivary bioscience in both research and practice.

This book offers a step-by-step guide to mental health assessment for bariatric surgery patients. A general introduction explains the concepts of bariatric psychology and psychiatry, their relevance in contemporary bariatric surgery, and reasons to include psychologists and psychiatrists in multidisciplinary teams taking care of bariatric patients. The following four chapters address the aspects of mental health that are investigated by bariatric psychology. The psychological processes analyzed here play a major role in influencing patients' perception of the outcomes of bariatric surgery and in determining their commitment to lifestyle changes and follow-up programs. The second part of the book includes nine chapters addressing the clinical conditions relevant to bariatric psychiatry. For each condition, the major focus is on the impact of psychopathology on bariatric surgery outcomes (weight loss, weight regain, quality of life) and the impact of surgery on its course (remission, worsening, de novo onset). Each chapter in this part includes a discussion of the diagnostic instruments (i.e., structured interviews, clinician-rated tests, and patient-rated tests) that should be used to obtain a valid assessment of the patient's mental status. Separate chapters focus on psychiatric complications (e.g., suicide and addiction transfer) and psychological problems related to quality of life (e.g., body image dissatisfaction) that may emerge postoperatively. Data on these postsurgery conditions has been reported only recently and, therefore, no published book deals with them. The final chapter offers an overview of unsolved issues in bariatric psychology and psychiatry and reviews emerging research findings that are likely to change assessment and care of bariatric patients' mental health in the near future. Given its scope-and its wealth of tables, diagrams, mnemonics, and key fact boxes-the book will be an invaluable reference tool for clinicians.

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters. The field of clinical nutrition as a whole seeks to consider the nutrition of patients within the healthcare system, paying attention to the interactions between diet, nutrition, and disease. To that end, this book discusses nutrition as both a contributing and managing factor in relation to diseases such as obesity and diabetes. It also presents malnutrition as a contributing factor to such diseases and considers the efficacy of micronutrient supplementation. It ends by looking at some of the recent developments and future trends in the field of clinical nutrition.

This book provides an overview of the latest knowledge of the psychological aspects of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and paves the way for advances in this rapidly evolving field. Taking an evidence-based approach, the book elucidates the ways in which PCOS causes anxiety and depression, impacts Quality of Life (QoL), and is associated with other psychological issues. The psychological impact of key features of PCOS are explored too, with a special focus on insulin resistance / diabetes, and fertility issues. The book concludes with a chapter on practical recommendations on how best to help with anxiety and depression in PCOS. An important feature of this book is its identification of the ways in which testosterone, a defining characteristic of PCOS, impacts psychology. In doing so it fills a lacunae in current research and offers evidence that maps out the complex ways in which biology impacts psychology in PCOS, and also how psychology can be harnessed to impact biology in a positive way. It will appeal in particular to scholars and clinicians in the fields of health psychology and women's health.

This unique source of reference provides a comprehensive guide to the adverse side-effects of many commonly prescribed drugs on fertility and sexual health. More than 150 drugs are listed in this compilation, and the evidence linking them with infertility and sexual dysfunction is carefully reviewed. The volume is designed to provide a rapid source of reference to alert doctors and pharmacists to these hazardous side-effects. The volume also includes an introductory account of the reproductive process and a review of the mechanisms by which these drugs can interfere or inhibit reproduction. Another important theme of the volume is the effect of social and recreational drugs and environmental agents on reproductive health.

This book focusses on the latest results related to the field of bile acids as signaling molecules and describes how these receptors have become a major pharmacological target. It covers all major areas of research in this field, from genetics, chemistry, in silico modeling, molecular biology to clinical applications, offering a cross-country view of the functional role of bile acids as signaling molecules, virtually acting on all major areas of metabolism. While FXR and GPBAR1 are essential bile acid sensors that integrate the de novo bile acid synthesis with intestinal microbiota and liver metabolism, in a broader sense, BARs play a pathogenic role in the development of common human alignments including liver, intestinal and metabolic disorders, such as steatosis (NAFLD) and steato-hepatitis (NASH), diabetes, obesity and atherosclerosis.

This volume focuses on challenging field in biomedicine that is the genetic control of central immune tolerance. It covers the thymus development, their cellular components and their respective function, the peculiar gene expression profiling (transcriptome) found in the medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) that are implicated in the self-representation in the thymus, the Autoimmune regulator (Aire) gene, the mutations in this gene and manifestation of autoimmune diseases, and the role of cell-cell interactions within the thymus with implications in the negative selection (elimination) of nascent autoreactive T cells in preventing aggressive autoimmunity. The thymus gland is a lymphoid organ implicated in the maturation, differentiation and selection of T cells. This organ is gained more and more attention in different biomedical research labs worldwide due to its function that is associated with the control of immune homeostasis in the body, establishing the central immune tolerance and preventing the onset of autoimmune diseases.

This book offers ophthalmologists and medical practitioners a concise, data-driven review of the information that is most relevant in guiding the diagnosis and management of thyroid-associated eye diseases (TED). Thyroid-Associated Eye Disease can be read in its entirety to give a perspective of the field, but also considered as a reference as clinical questions arise. The goal is to deliver data- driven guidance and discreet approaches and suggestions useful for clinical practice and decision making. Advances in diagnostic evaluation, including autoantibody assessment, are reviewed, and the diagnostic features of euthyroid TED are also discussed. All relevant aspects of treatment are covered, from the use of radioactive iodine, long-term medical therapy, and surgical thyroidectomy through to the treatment of active TED by steroids and novel biologics and the role of minimally invasive surgery. Numerous supporting images are included, and helpful checklists will aid the practitioner in treatment decision making.

This practice-oriented book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the history, surgical anatomy, etiology, pathogenesis, clinical presentation and treatment of primary, secondary, and tertiary hyperparathyroidism. The coverage is wide ranging, encompassing, for example, innovations in both medical and surgical treatment, current indications for parathyroidectomy, the role and performance of minimally invasive surgery, the value of intraoperative parathyroid hormone monitoring and guidance on reoperations. Individual chapters are devoted to particular conditions and disease settings, including multiple endocrine neoplasia types 1 and 2 and parathyroid carcinoma, with provision of information on genetic testing, clinical manifestations and therapy. All aspects of secondary hyperparathyroidism in predialysis and dialysis patients are discussed. The book is endorsed by the Italian Society of Surgery. It will be of great value for endocrine surgeons and endocrinologists and will also be of interest to specialists in internal medicine, nephrologists, urologists, gynecologists and radiologists.

This book focuses on hormones, and on how they are produced in very diverse regions of the body in humans and animals. But hormones can be found not only in vertebrates, but also in insects, shellfish, spiders, mollusks, even at the origin of metazoan diversification and exhibit the same pathways of synthesis. The book addresses the different classes of hormones: protein/peptides hormones, steroids and juvenile hormones and hormones like catecholamines, thyroid hormones and melatonin. It also discusses the types of hormone receptors, the majority of which are heptahelical G-protein coupled receptors or nuclear receptors. Particular attention is paid to the organs where hormones are created, with specifics on hormonal production and release, while a dedicated chapter details hormonal regulation from very simple to highly complex schemes. The remarkable kinetics of hormones production are also shown, before the book is rounded out by chapters on evolution in the endocrine system, the genetics of endocrine diseases and doping.

The book provides a reference for years to come, written by world-renowned expert investigators studying sex differences, the role of sex hormones, the systems biology of sex, and the genetic contribution of sex chromosomes to metabolic homeostasis and diseases. In this volume, leaders of the pharmaceutical industry present their views on sex-specific drug discovery. Many of the authors presented at the Keystone Symposium on "Sex and gender factors affecting metabolic homeostasis, diabetes and obesity" to be held in March 2017 in Lake Tahoe, CA. This book will generate new knowledge and ideas on the importance of gender biology and medicine from a molecular standpoint to the population level and to provide the methods to study them. It is intended to be a catalyst leading to gender-specific treatments of metabolic diseases. There are fundamental aspects of metabolic homeostasis that are regulated differently in males and females, and influence both the development of diabetes and obesity and the response to pharmacological intervention. Still, most preclinical researchers avoid studying female rodents due to the added complexity of research plans. The consequence is a generation of data that risks being relevant to only half of the population. This is a timely moment to publish a book on sex differences in diseases as NIH leadership has asked scientists to consider sex as a biological variable in preclinical research, to ensure that women get the same benefit of medical research as men.

Provides latest advances in diagnosis and management of bone and mineral disorders Part of the renowned Clinical Focus series Focus on skeletal and mineral homeostasis and the role of calcium and vitamin D as nutritional supplements Each chapter highly illustrated with tables and images Internationally recognised editor and author team led by US-based expert in the field

Providing a comprehensive review of the most up-to-date evidence, this book presents the latest biology, diagnosis and management for pheochromocytomas, paragangliomas and related disorders of the sympathoadrenal system. Many new areas, including genetic syndromes, have evolved, and these are insufficiently appreciated among practitioners. A discussion of the basics of catecholamine biology sets the stage for presentations of the pathology, clinical features, and diagnosis of these tumors, including localization and imaging. Medical, anesthetic and surgical management of pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas follow, including case material. Additional chapters discuss pheochromocytoma in pediatrics and in pregnancy, both pure and hypoglycemia-associated autonomic failure, and the role of the sympathetic nervous system in hypertension. These diseases are relatively rare, but many, if not most, go undiagnosed during life: If promptly diagnosed and appropriately treated, they are usually completely curable; if undiagnosed or mistreated, they are typically terminal. Bringing the most current knowledge to bear, Pheochromocytomas, Paragangliomas and Disorders of the Sympathoadrenal System will be a valuable resource for practicing endocrinologists, endocrine surgeons, internists and endocrine fellows faced with diagnosing and managing these conditions.

This textbook presents for the first time a comprehensive body of the latest knowledge in the field of neuropeptides and their action on energy balance. It contains a detailed and comprehensive account of the specific hypothalamic peptides in regards to their roles in energy balance, food intake control and co-morbidities, to better understand the patho-physiology of obesity. The textbook includes an examination the history of the evolution of human society from a thin to the obese phenotype and, within that context, how modern society habits and industrial food production did not respect the evolutionary trait resulting in changes in the energy balance set point. It provides a novel conceptualization of the problem of obesity when considering the biochemistry of peptide hormones and entertaining novel ideas on multiple approaches to the problems of energy balance, as well as demonstrates and explains why alterations in pro-hormone processing are paramount to understand metabolic disease. This text is excellent material for teaching graduate and medical school courses, as well as a valuable resource for researchers in biochemistry, cell, and molecular biology, neuroscientists, physician endocrinologists, and nutritionists.

This book offers one of the most comprehensive reviews in the field of gastrointestinal (GI) physiology, guiding readers on a journey through the complete digestive tract, while also highlighting related organs and glandular systems. It is not solely limited to organ system physiology, and related disciplines like anatomy and histology, but also examines the molecular and cellular processes that keep the digestive system running. As such, the book provides extensive information on the molecular, cellular, tissue, organ, and system levels of functions in the GI system. Chapters on the roles of the gut as an endocrine, exocrine and neural organ, as well as its microbiome functions, broaden readers' understanding of the multi-organ networks in the human body. To help illustrate the interconnections between the physiological concepts, principles and clinical presentations, it outlines clinical examples such as pathologies that link basic science with clinical practice in special "clinical correlates" sections. Covering both traditional and contemporary topics, it is a valuable resource for biomedical students, as well as healthcare and scientific professionals.

Leading researchers are specially invited to provide a complete understanding of a key topic within the multidisciplinary fields of physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology. In a form immediately useful to scientists, this periodical aims to filter, highlight and review the latest developments in these rapidly advancing fields.