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Contact the study team using the details below to take part. If there are no contact details below please ask your doctor in the first instance.
Dr
Sirazum
Choudhury
s.choudhury@imperial.ac.uk
Prof
Karim
Meeran
k.meeran@imperial.ac.uk
Disorders of other endocrine glands
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There are over 27,000 individuals in the United Kingdom with Adrenal Insufficiency (AI), a condition in which the body is unable to produce sufficient amounts of steroid hormones. Steroid hormones like cortisol are needed for normal bodily function and are especially important at times of stress. The absence of cortisol causes symptoms including nausea, lethargy and can lead to fatal emergencies called adrenal crises. This condition is treated by replacing the insufficient hormone using oral tablets. The majority of patients in the UK are managed using hydrocortisone or prednisolone. Hydrocortisone is expensive and has a short duration of action, necessitating three doses per day. Prednisolone is much cheaper, and has a longer duration of action meaning that it is taken once per day. At present there is no evidence in favour of either drug. This study will investigate the effects of both medications on bone health, cardiovascular risk, blood glucose control and well-being, in patients with AI. There are two parts to this study, Part A and Part B. Part A will be a retrospective observational study in which members of the routine clinical care team will audit the notes and biochemical records of patients who have previously been switched between hydrocortisone and prednisolone as part of their standard care. Part B will take patients who have received a stable regimen of either therapy for at least 4 months and will prospectively recruit them to this study as they change to the alternative therapy as part of their routine clinical care. We will compare biological measurements (such as blood pressure, pulse, hip and waist size), blood test results, urine test results and questionnaire responses before and 4 months after patients change their therapy. All investigations, measurements and questionnaires are part of routine clinical care, and no additional study specific tests will be performed.
Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.
The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:
Observational type: Cross-sectional;
You can take part if:
You may not be able to take part if:
• Individuals who are unable to give informed consent • Pregnancy (determined by patients self-reporting pregnancy status) • Patients using the combined oral contraceptive pill
Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.
The study is sponsored by Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine and funded by NIHR Academy .
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Read full details
for Trial ID: CPMS 38756
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