Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) Archives

15 May 2024

7 Comments

Carcinoid Syndrome – chicken or egg?

Awareness, Living with Neuroendocrine Cancer, Patient AdvocacyCarcinoid syndrome, Carcinoid tumour, Chemotherapy, Cushing's syndrome, Gastrin, Glucagon, Insulin, Lanreotide, Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN), NET syndromes, Neuroendocrine, Neuroendocrine cancer, Neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC), Pancreatic polypeptide (PP), Somatostatin, Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome

We’ve all heard the age-old question about the chicken and the egg? Scientists claimed to have 'cracked' the riddle of whether the chicken or the egg came first. The answer, they say, is the chicken. Researchers found that the formation of egg shells relies on a protein found only in a chicken's ovaries. Therefore, an egg can exist only if it has been inside a chicken. There you have it! On a similar subject, I'm often confused when someone says they have been diagnosed with 'Carcinoid Syndrome' but not one of associated 'Neuroendocrine Tumours' - my instinct says that is…

22 Mar 2024

By Ronny Allan

15 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer – Horrible Hormones

Patient Advocacy24-hour urinary catacholamines and metanephrines, 5-HIAA, 5-Hydrotryptophan (5-HTP), Addison's disease, Adrenal insufficiency, Adrenaline, Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH), Aldosterone, Anaphylactic shock, Androgrens, Antihistamines, Appendiceal NET, Bradykinin, Calcitonin, Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), Carcinoid crisis, Carcinoid heart disease, Carcinoid syndrome, Catecholamines, Chromogranin A (CgA), Corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH), Cushing's disease, Cushing's syndrome, Diarrhea, Endocrine, Enterochromaffin cells, Epinephrine, Estrogen, Fight or flight, Flushing, Ga68 PET/CT, Gastric NET, Gastrin, Glucagon, Histamine, Hormones, HPA axis, Hyperparathyroidism, Hypocortisolism, Hypotension, Hypothalamus, Insulin, Intraoperative hypertensive crisis, Islet cell, Islet of Langerhams, Kallikrein, Lanreotide, Lung NETs, Malabsorption, Mast cell, Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), Metanephrines, Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN), NET syndromes, Neuroendocrine, Neuroendocrine neoplasm (NEN), Neurokinin A (NKA), Neuropeptide K, Neurotensin, Neurotransmitter, Norepinephrine, Nutrition, Octreotide, Octreotide scan, Ovarian NEN, Pancreastatin, Pancreatic NET (PanNET), Pancreatic polypeptide (PP), Paraganglioma, Pellagra, Peptide, Pheochromocytoma, PPoma, Prostaglandin, Pruritus, Serotonin, Somatostatin, Somatostatinoma, Substance P, Tachycardia, Tachykinin, Telotristat ethyl (Xermelo), Testosterone, The 5 E's, Tryptophan, Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), Vasodilation, VIPoma, Xermelo (Telotristat ethyl)

Updated and reviewed 20th March 2024 Hormonal imbalances are quite common in many conditions including day to day stuff. With Neuroendocrine Cancer, it can be a real challenge both at diagnostic and maintenance phases. In addition to the cancer angle, there's some strange stuff going on, inexplicable, frightening for the patient, an unwanted ingredient causing chaos! Until I was diagnosed with metastatic Neuroendocrine Cancer, I didn't have a clue about hormones - it's one of those things you just take for granted. However, hormones are vital to human health (male and female) and it's only when things go wrong you…

20 Nov 2023

By Ronny Allan

0 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer – Clinical Esoterica

AwarenessCarcinoid crisis, Carcinoid syndrome, Desmoplasia, Gastrinoma, Glucagonoma, Hedinger syndrome, Hormones, Incurable cancer, Insulinoma, Neuroendocrine, Neuroendocrine cancer, Neuroendocrine tumour (NET), Paraganglioma, Pheochromocytoma, PPoma, Serotonin, Somatostatinoma, Thorson-Bioerck syndrome, Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), Verner-Morrison syndrome, VIPoma, Whipple's triad, Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome

One of the key awareness messages for Neuroendocrine Cancer is the hormonal syndromes that can often accompany the diagnosis for many people. As it's a difficult disease to diagnose, many people struggle with these syndromes for some time before formal diagnosis of Neuroendocrine Cancer. Some continue to struggle after. Neuroendocrine Cancer can often be uncannily quiet, but the tumours can be 'functional' and over-secrete certain hormones to add or introduce symptoms that mimic many other diseases or conditions, such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Menopause, Heart disease and Asthma. In addition to common symptoms of flushing and diarrhea, others include…

24 Apr 2023

By Ronny Allan

5 Comments

The NET Detectives

Awareness, Patient AdvocacyAdvanced neuroendocrine cancer, Carcinoid syndrome, Carcinoid tumour, Gastrinoma, Glucagonoma, Insulinoma, Metastatic Neuroendocrine Cancer, Neuroendocrine cancer, Neuroendocrine neoplasm (NEN), Neuroendocrine tumour (NET), PPoma, Somatostatinoma, Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), VIPoma

The NET Detectives is an awareness post. Detecting NETs In general, it's probably true to say that Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) are difficult to diagnose. Some are more complex than others and their heterogeneity is legendary. In many cases, they can be quiet, and imaging is key in finding them if they are big enough to be seen. As most primary care facilities (e.g. General Practitioner (GP) offices) don't have a range of imaging devices on site, referrals are often necessary to investigate more. I don't believe it's right to say this referral is a misdiagnosis, it's just another stage in…

30 Oct 2018

By Ronny Allan

9 Comments

Neuroendocrine Cancer Hormonal Syndromes – a witch’s brew

AwarenessCarcinoid crisis, Carcinoid syndrome, Desmoplasia, Gastrinoma, Glucagonoma, Hedinger syndrome, Hormones, Incurable cancer, Insulinoma, Neuroendocrine, Neuroendocrine cancer, Neuroendocrine tumour (NET), Paraganglioma, Pheochromocytoma, PPoma, Serotonin, Somatostatinoma, Thorson-Bioerck syndrome, Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), Verner-Morrison syndrome, VIPoma, Whipple's triad, Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome

It’s a difficult disease to diagnose, e.g. many people struggle with undiagnosed syndromes for some time before formal diagnosis of Neuroendocrine Cancer. Many continue to struggle after. They hide in plain sight – sometimes the syndromes can provide clues ……… but they can still fool your doctors. Let's change that with more awareness which can lead to earlier diagnosis. Neuroendocrine Cancer can often be uncannily quiet, but the tumours can be 'functional' and over-secrete certain hormones to add or introduce symptoms that mimic many other diseases or conditions, such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Menopause, Heart disease and Asthma. In…

Tag: Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)