Services provided CLINICAL FACILITIES                       The department caters to referred patients with endocrine and metabolic problems from all over India and is a tertiary care department. The annual outpatient attendance in 2008-2009 was 60,000 clients CLINICAL CONSULTATIONS Day Time Activities Monday 8:00 am – 6:00 pm General Endocrine Out patient   2.00 pm - 4.00 pm Pituitary Clinic       Tuesday 1.00 pm – 2.30 pm Integrated Diabetes Foot Clinic (With Vascular surgery and PMR)   2.00 pm – 5.00 pm Menopause Clinic(With Gynecology)       Wednesday 8.00 am – 3.00 pm Diabetes Clinic   10.00 am - 12.00 pm Type 1 Diabetes Clinic   11.00 am -12.00 pm Nuclear Medicine- Surgery VI- Endocrine Meeting   2.00 pm - 4.00 pm Diabetes Eye Clinic       Thursday 8.00 am – 6.00 pm General Endocrine outpatient   2.00 pm - 4.00 pm Pituitary Clinic       Friday 2.00 pm – 3.30 pm Neuro-Endocrine meeting       Saturday 9.00 am – 2.00 pm Diabetes Clinic       Daily 8:00 am - 4:00 pm Diabetes Educational services               When you arrive ….     Our endocrinology OPD is at Room 111, Ist floor of the out patient building. Please ensure that you are present at least half an hour prior to your appointment time. On arriving at the OPD, please register with the MRO who will confirm your appointment and book you into the clinic.           Consultation:           Before consultation please confirm to bring with you     All previous medical records and documents Your investigations and scans done previously List of all the drugs that you are taking This will help us arrive at a diagnosis earlier and may avoid the repetition of some expensive tests.     You will be called into the consultation room by the doctor. At the time of consultation please discuss in detail with your doctor the problems you have. If you do not know any other language besides your native language, try to get a translator along with you as this would help us in clearly understanding the medical problem. At your first visit the doctor might give you some investigations, dietary consultation or physiotherapy (appointments for which can be sought at outpatient counters on payment) and ask you to come for a review at a later date. Your treatment plan will be decided only based upon these reports.           Subsequent Visits     At revisits the physician will explain to you to the problem and the management options. If need arises you may need an inpatient admission which the doctor will advice you on. The department interacts closely with the following departments in the management of patients - Neurosurgery, Endocrine surgery, Nuclear Medicine, Reproductive medicine, Orthopaedics, Urology and Radiotherapy. The range of services provided include, the management of Diabetes, Disorders of the Pituitary, Thyroid, Metabolic Bone Disease, Adrenal and Gonadal dysfunction.     Some common Endocrine Problems evaluated include     Diabetes (Sugar in the blood) Thyroid disorders (thyroid swellings, thyroid cancer, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism) Irregular menstruation (Oligomenorrhoea & Amenorrhoea) Obesity (Overweight being too fat) Short stature (Being too short) Tall stature (Being too tall) Young hypertension (age less than 30 years) Menopausal symptoms Osteoporosis (thin bones and repeated fractures) Adrenal disorders Metabolic Bone Disease Early and delayed puberty Sexual dysfunction – decreased libido erectile dysfunction Pituitary disorders Problems with Sodium and potassium metabolism Impairment in male sexual function Excessive hair growth in females Abnormal genitalia Recurrent kidney stones         Diabetes and Disorders of Glucose Metabolism The most significant clinical development in the year 2001-2002 is the marked expansion and diversification in the area of Diabetology. Diabetes Mellitus affects about 11% of the South Indian Urban Population. Bearing this is mind, the Department has initiated a Integrated Diabetes Outpatient Clinic on a twice-weekly basis. This is a unique Diabetes Clinic which includes the Endocrinologists, Diabetes Educators, Dieticians and Physiotherapists who emphasize the holistic concepts in management of diabetes mellitus, inclusive of diet, exercise, lifestyle modification, and medications. In addition foot care is provided in liaise with general surgeon and orthopedician. The concept of the integrated clinic is extended in the form of integrated outreach camps, in and around the hinterland of Vellore. The department has four full time diabetes educators who have done yeoman service in developing the diabetology infrastructure and conveying in depth the changes required in successful management of inpatient and outpatient handling of diabetes to the patients. Other unique features of diabetes management includes diabetes education, glucometer rentals and home monitoring, Insulin dose titration , Continous glucose monitoring system and Insulin Pump therapy Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease The Department has special interest in the management of metabolic bone diseases and evaluation of patients with recurrent renal stones. Osteoporosis - This silent Killer disease is widely managed in our department and the recent acquisition of the bone-densitometer (DEXA) is an added bonus for the proper evaluation of osteoporosis and research in this area. The Department has initiated a menopause clinic in conjunction with the gynaecology department. The aim of the Menopause clinic is to identify and treat early and late menopausal symptoms viz. hot flushes, genitourinary problems, breast disease and osteoporosis. The initiation and follow up of subjects on Hormone replacement therapy and treatment of osteoporosis forms the main pillar stone of this clinic. In view of this we have conducted several camps and outreach programmes to increase the public awareness in the region with regards to osteoporosis, nutritional calcium deficiency and menopause. Neuroendocrinology Neuro-endocrinology is a real strength of the department considering its ties with the department of neurosurgery with an annual load of new pituitary disorders numbering more than 120. The International Symposium on Pituitary Disorders conducted jointly with the Departments of Neurosurgery and Pathology in early 2001 attracted some of the big names in pituitary research to Vellore. Our other areas of specialization include disorders of growth and sexual development and the evaluation of patients with primary and secondary infertility and obesity. We are also involved in the pre and post transplant management of patients with Thalassemia major with regard to their endocrine problems. Laboratory Facilities The Department has a modern Endocrine laboratory with automated clinical chemistry analyzers. It has facilities for doing the following assays: Radioimmunoassay, Competitive protein - binding assay, Chemiluminescence assay and Enzyme immunoassay. The department of Nuclear Medicine has all the facilities for imaging endocrine tumors. These include facilities for Thyroid uptake and scanning, Sestamibi scans for imaging parathyroid adenomas. MIBG scans for evaluation of Pheochromocytomas and other neuroendocrine tumours, Bone scan and other facilities are also available. The radiopharmaceuticals tracers for these scans are prepared within the department. We are equipped to perform procedures like Inferior Petrosal Sinus sampling for locating ACTH producing pituitary adenomas, selective digital subtraction angiographic procedures and selective venous catherization for locating ectopic endocrine tumours