Diabetes & Endocrinology Centre

The Diabetes and Endocrinology Centre

The Diabetes and Endocrinology Centre, in collaboration with other departments of the Hong Kong Baptist Hospital including departments of Pathology, Heart Centre, Dietetics, Ophthalmology and Podiatry Service, provides comprehensive service for patients with diabetes and endocrine diseases. The Centre is committed to offering holistic treatment and care to patients, in particular patient education, prevention and management of diseases and complications.

Diabetes Mellitus (DM)

DM is a metabolic disease by which people cannot regulate the blood glucose (sugar) level. This can be due to insufficient insulin production or insulin resistance, so that, glucose cannot be consumed as energy source effectively, resulting in high blood glucose level, while extra glucose will be excreted in urine. High blood glucose levels may lead to acute or chronic complications.

• Acute Diabetic Complication: High blood glucose with the presence of ketone in the body is a feature of diabetic ketoacidosis or hyperosmolar non-ketotic hyperglycaemia. Patient may present with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, marked dehydration and even coma, which is a life threatening medical emergency.
• Chronic Diabetic Complications: Persistent high blood glucose levels may lead to vascular and nerve damages, which in turn affect organ functions as followings:
  • Retinopathy – Diabetes is one of the leading causes, blindness may result if retinopathy gets worse.
  • Kidney Disease – Diabetes is one of the most common causes of renal failure, 20% to 40% diabetic patients suffered from it.
  • Heart Disease and Stroke – Diabetic patients are more likely to have heart disease and stroke.
  • Neuropathy and Peripheral Vascular Diseases – Symptoms like painful tingling sensation in legs, numbness and ulcers are commonly found in diabetic patients. Ulcers may easily become In serious case, amputation may be required. Consult a podiatrist when necessary.
  • Sexual Dysfunction – More than 10% of male patients suffer

Endocrine Diseases

Endocrine Diseases are related to malfunctioning of endocrine system. Endocrine system comprises a number of endocrine glands which produce and release hormones to control important haemostasis, such as growth development, tissue function, metabolism, sexual function and reproduction. Our centre provides diagnostic tests and management to patients with challenging endocrine diseases.

• Thyroid disorder: Thyroid gland syntheses and secretes thyroid hormone which regulate our body metabolism. Common disorders of thyroid gland include hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism and thyroid nodule.
• Pituitary disorder: Pituitary gland secretes the major types of hormones among all endocrine glands. Common tumors arising from pituitary gland include prolactinoma, growth hormone adenoma (acromegaly), Cushing’s disease and non-functioning pituitary adenoma.
• Adrenal disorder: Adrenal gland secretes hormones to regulate the body fluid balance and osmolarity. Three main functioning adrenal tumors are Conn’s adenoma, pheochromocytoma and Cushing’s syndrome.
• Metabolic syndrome: It refers to a cluster of metabolic risk factors including central obesity, high triglyceride level, low HDL-cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Osteoporosis: Decrease of estrogen level will result in higher bone fracture risk in postmenopausal women.
• Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS): Majority of patients are obese and present with hirsutisim (increase hair growth) and menstrual irregularity.