1,721,035 research outputs found
Endocrine evaluation of erectile dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction is highly prevalent, affecting up to half of men in their 50-70s, and has been variably associated to a variety of causes including unhealthy lifestyles, such as smoking or overweight, or comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and neurological disorders. General interest toward ED has exploded since the introduction of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors-oral drugs that are widely accepted as the first line treatment in patients suffering from this conditions. In the last decade, the time lapse between first symptoms of sexual disorders and seeking of medical advice has greatly reduced. Unfortunately, none of the PDE5i has been proven curative, but rather acts as a symptomatic treatment. The availability of very active and safe drugs, however, diminished the space for diagnosis and search of etiological treatments. This is particularly true for the several endocrinopathies associated with ED. A number of epidemiological data support an inverse relationship between sexual health and testosterone levels, and it is well accepted that testosterone deficiency is a good marker of sexual and physical frailty. However, several other hormones, including LH, prolactin, TSH, and FT4 are involved in sexual functioning and should be investigated in a proper work-out of ED. Existing guidelines provide information almost entirely focusing on late-onset hypogonadism and therapeutic strategies; this mini-review aims to provide a wider spectrum of the diagnostic endocrine work-out of ED patients unrevealing the complexity of conditions, overt or subclinical, which can affect ED
The CATCH checklist to investigate adult-onset hypogonadism.
Adult-onset hypogonadism is a syndrome often underdiagnosed, undertreated, or incompletely explored. There are various reasons for this: firstly, undefined age range of men in whom testosterone levels should be investigated and then no definitive serum cutoff point for the diagnosis of hypogonadism; and finally, variable and non-specific signs and symptoms; men and physicians do not pay adequate attention to sexual health. All these factors make the diagnostic criteria for hypogonadism controversial. The evaluation of the clinical features and causes of this syndrome, its link with age, the role of testosterone and other hormone levels, and the presence of any comorbidities are all useful factors in the investigation of this population. The purpose of this manuscript, after an accurate analysis of current literature, is to facilitate the diagnosis of hypogonadism in men through the use of the CATCH acronym and a checklist to offer a practical diagnostic tool for daily clinical practice. A narrative review of the relevant literature regarding the diagnosis of late-onset hypogonadism or adult-onset hypogonadism was performed. PubMed database was used to retrieve articles published on this topic. A useful new acronym CATCH (Clinical features [symptoms] and Causes, Age, Testosterone level, Comorbidities, and Hormones) and a practical checklist to facilitate the evaluation of hypogonadism in aging men were used. The evaluation of the clinical features and causes of hypogonadism, the link with age, the role of Testosterone and other hormones, and the evaluation of comorbidities are important in investigating adult-onset hypogonadism. The CATCH checklist could be helpful for clinicians for an early diagnosis of both hypogonadism and associated comorbidities. We suggest the use of this acronym to advocate the investigation of declining testosterone in aging men
Does Testosterone regulate body fat distribution by modulating 11-B-HSD1 activity in adipocytes?
Erratum: Hormonal supplementation and erectile dysfunction (European Urology (2004) 45 (535-538) DOI: 10.1016/j.eururo.2004.01.005)
[No abstract available
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Cardiovascular complications in patients with Klinefelter’s syndrome
More than 70 years have passed since the first description of Klinefelter Syndrome (KS), the most frequent chromosome disorder causing male infertility and hypogonadism. KS is associated with increased cardiovascular (CV) mortality due to several comorbidities, including hypogonadism, as well as metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, which are highly prevalent in these patients. Aside from metabolic disturbances, patients with KS suffer from both acquired and congenital CV abnormalities, cerebrovascular thromboembolic dis-ease, subclinical atherosclerosis and endothelial dysfunction, which may all contribute to increased CV mortali-ty. The mechanisms involved in this increased risk of CV morbidity and mortality are not entirely understood. More research is needed to better characterise the CV manifestations, elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms and define the contribution of testosterone replacement to restoring CV health in KS patients. This review explores the complex association between KS, metabolic syndrome and CV risk in order to plan future studies and improve strategies to reduce mortality in this high-risk population
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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