75 years of the Polish Society of Endocrinology

- 75 years is a big chunk of time. The first endocrinology clinic was established in 1949 in Lodz, Poland, and it was then that the idea of establishing the Society was conceived. The greatest development of our field has been the last twenty years. We started as part of internal medicine," explains Prof. Kos - Kudła.

During this time, he adds, tremendous progress has been made in terms of diagnostics and access to state-of-the-art drugs. - We no longer have to wait years for them, as our patients receive them very shortly after registration in the States, for example," he estimates.

Endocrinologists, he adds, have to work closely with other specialists: oncologists, cardiologists, nuclear medics to treat their patients effectively. - We look at the patient holistically. This interdisciplinary approach allows for better and faster diagnosis and treatment.

There are 1,300 endocrinologists working in Poland. According to Prof. Kos-Kudła, this is a sufficient number. However, there is a wait of up to several years for an appointment with a specialist.

- It's a matter of organizing the system. Some patients can be successfully treated by primary care physicians. Not every patient with a single nodule or diagnosed hypothyroidism needs to go to an endocrinologist, he estimates.

The most common patients to endocrinologists are those with thyroid disease, patients with polycystic ovary syndrome, or patients with incidentally diagnosed nodules in the pituitary or adrenal glands, among others. Unfortunately, oncology patients are increasing in number. Hyperparathyroidism and patients with obesity are more common. But only 1 - 2 percent of them have excess weight due to hormonal disorders. Usually overweight is caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, but as a consequence it causes a number of diseases, some of which endocrinologists have to deal with.

Source: SUM