22 May 2019: 

I’ve been reading…

“21 lectures for the XXI Century”, by Yuval Noah Harari. This is an interesting book which comments about the facts and challenges that new generations have to face. This book presents different points of view regarding the loss of jobs due to new artificial intelligence and other topics, such as immigration and the impact of global warming.

I’ve been researching…

into the development of new drugs for Osteoporosis and for type 2 Diabetes in phase III trials.

My team...

is working on continuing medical education in Endocrinology, Menopause and Osteoporosis. We have optimized National Guidelines on Menopause and Osteoporosis Management. We are now working on the National Recommendations for Calcium and Vitamin D therapy and on the validation of the FRAX score In coordination with the Minister of Health of Costa Rica.

An anecdote…

as the President of FLASCYM (Latin American Federation of Menopause Societies), I organized the IX FLASCYM Congress in Costa Rica, which took place from March 26th to 29th, 2019. After many months of effort we hosted 390 participants and got the collaboration of 47 speakers. We had a Precongress Practitioner Refresher Training course in Menopausal Medecine (IMPART), with 180 attendees, thanks to the great contribution of Professor Susan Davis, IMS President, and Dr. Nick Panay, Dr Camilo Rueda and myself as members of the IMS Board. We received excellent comments about the IMPART Program to the extent that various organizations in Latin America have expressed their interested in including a Precongress IMPART course as part of their local academic events.

An interesting case...

is that last week I received a 73-year old lady at my office, which had been taking oral MHT since her 50s. She had many questions about a mild plasma glucose increase, spongiform thyroid nodule with a biopsy indication, and oral/ transdemal MHT. She referred that each time that she had tried to stop MHT, sleep became disturbed and multiple daily episodes of intense vasomotor symptoms recurred. She had an excellent densitometry report, with normal t-score at her spine and mild low hip bone density. I just proposed some lifestyle modifications, such as more excercise and a reduction in carbohydrate and fat intake. Moreover I switched her MHT from oral to transdermal, recommended against the thyroid biopsy as it was not indicated and suggested a check-up after four months. This case makes me think about the need we have to support clinical care of older MHT users, based on scientific evidence.

I’m worried about...

the overpopulation of doctors in my country who have no work, after long years of study. This means that in order to survive economically, they leave aside their continuous medical update that is so important in our profession. I’ve been thinking... what the best way is to transfer knowledge in continuous medical education programs. We should probably prefer active clinical case discussion sessions to theoretical lectures.

In my spare time…

I love to cook and experiment with new recipes on Sundays during family lunch. I also like to organize family field trips to places far away from San José, capital of Costa Rica, to admire nature; we like to get up early in the morning to go bird-watching.

A thorn in my side…

is the lack of involvement of some colleages in important health problems in my country. What challenges me... is that I never have enough time to share my academic interests and projects with my elderly parents, my husband, my children.

Sonia Cerdas

Professor of Endocrinology, University of Costa Rica, Hospital Cima - San José, Costa Rica