• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Endocrinoligist ?

M

mistee71

Well-Known Member
Messages
368
Location
Cornwall
Dislikes
FOOTBALL. MY husband is a sports fanatic and watches everything. Most i can put up with just not football.
I read quite often about people speaking of there Endo's. Why do some people have them?
 
Good question actually-My GP is referring me to one of those and a Diabetes specialist but I wasnt told what they can do for me or what they do-some feedback would be interesting for us both I think! :wink:
 
There is a good description of an Endocrinology here. These are specialists who deal with any illnesses or conditions which occur because of glands and hormones within the systems of our bodies.
http://www.endocrineweb.com/endocrinolo ... ine-system

Some people on the forum may say that they are going to see a Specialist and that is what they mean by Endocrinologist.

There are also Nurses, usually in a Hospital setting who specialise in Diabetes and they are called Diabetes Specialist Nurses or DSN's. It is unusual for a G.P. practice to employ a nurse specialising in diabetes because of the salary costs and so the nurses that most people see there do not have the expertise that the specialist ones have. You are usually referred to the hospital for more expert care than your G.P. surgery can give you.
 
From what I can gather most type II care is dealt with locally by your GP or DSN (Diabetic Specialist Nurse). Type I care tends to be a mixture of locally at the GP or at a hospital diabetes centre where the doctors will be Endocrinologists (or trainee ones).
 
I'm not sure about the system there in the UK... but here GPs don't tend to request all the diagnostic tests required other than the HbA1c to check what your BGLs have been for past 60 days. The way they seem to work it here is if a GP gets a HbA1c result that shows your BGL is higher than it should be they then request tests to check the state of your kidneys and liver... after that they do a referral to a diabetes clinic here to see an endocrinologist. The endo then orders the GAD and C-peptide tests to see what type of diabetes you actually have and then they tend to monitor you... they also provide a diagnostic report to your GP. They also put you on appropriate treatment and advise your GP. As a result of seeing the endo in the first place I also got diagnosed with PCOS which I didn't really know I had... but they specialise in this area of hormones and I was young when I was diagnosed with type 2 and they wanted to know why and what precursors I had. I'm currently still seeing an endo myself and I've been under his care for over a couple of years because my BGLs weren't under good control and my GP needed to find out why... I got referred back for that reason to be tested and diagnosed again. Just as well he did as the result of the C-peptide test showed that my body produces insufficient amount of insulin... so I was placed on insulin from there. The endo I see is a consultant to the clinic... and he actually teaches other endos apparently. :)
 
I was referred to the Endo as I wasn't a clear cut T1 or T2.
 
Back
Top