Day 3 @ ENDO2013

Today started for this Endo Blogger with a jam packed session on food addiction. It was so full that the audience was being let in one person at a time! I think anyone that is interested in a better understanding of the major players that drive food intake would have enjoyed the session. There were 3 excellent talks from Dr. Ralph DiLeone, Dr. Gina Leinninger, and Dr. Susanne La Fleur. The first 2 talks were related in that they both looked at hypothalamic control over food intake. More specifically, each speaker discussed different aspects of the dopaminergic projections from the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA). The first talk described the dopaminergic projections themselves and the second talk explained some of details about the less well known molecule, neurotensin. The session closed with a talk by Dr. La Fleur which tried to tease out importance of both elevated fat and sugar on food intake. In short, the combination of high fat and high sugar diets limited rats ability to down regulate their food intake. This is contrast to with the substances alone, the ability was maintained. She also studied a small amount of healthy humans which also explored the impact of increased sugar and fat both at meals and at snacks. Those with high fat and high sugar intake at snacks showed decreased liver sensitivity and serotonin receptor binding, which is also known to play a role in food intake. Excellent work across the board.

I finally got a chance today to get a good look at some of the amazing ENDO posters. There were a lot of really interesting and rare cases from the world of the adrenal, thyroid, and pituitary glands. I definitely learned a thing or two perusing the posters. The last academic highlight of the day for me involved exercise and diabetes. I love hearing different physicians' views on how to tackle a potentially difficult issue with a lot of my patients. I certainly left with a some new ideas that I will implement in diabetes clinic.

On the ligher side, thankfully the higher ups at ENDO2013 allowed us to spin the wheel twice because of the evacuation yesterday. Sadly, I did not hit any of the big prizes, but I am certainly happy with my notebook and ear buds. There is always next year!

Onward to the last day of ENDO2013, my how the time flew!