Clinical medicine (London, England)
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Case Reports
Lesson of the month 2: Houssay phenomenon - hypopitutarism leading to remission of diabetes.
Because of a pituitary insult and the subsequent loss of counter-regulatory hormones, individuals can experience increased sensitivity to insulin, hypoglycaemia or even complete amelioration of diabetes; this is known as the Houssay phenomenon. Severe dehydration following diarrhoea can lead to pituitary infarction causing hypopituitarism. ⋯ Physicians should keep this possibility in mind while treating hypoglycaemia in stable diabetic individuals. Judicious supplementation of deficient hormones is of utmost importance.
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The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and the British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine co-hosted a meeting entitled 'Neuromuscular conditions for physicians - what you need to know' at the RCP on 30 November 2015. There was a series of talks, ranging from in-depth genetic and molecular descriptions of pathology to multidisciplinary management of chronic neuromuscular conditions, which stimulated lively debate and discussion. Some overarching themes emerged from the day, most notably: i) the changing expectations and survival rates in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), which are transforming this disorder into an adult as much as a paediatric condition; ii) the need for integrated management and good communication -between services - whether primary, secondary and tertiary care, medical teams and intensivists, or the multiple teams involved in providing treatment to neuromuscular patients; and iii) in line with the above, the essential need for streamlining care such that patients can avoid spending most of their time attending outpatient appointments, and instead concentrate on living full lives and exploring educational, occupational, leisure and social opportunities.