Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Since this is a new blog, I thought I would post a little more information on myself in the vain hope that somebody will read this blog one day.

I was born in Swindon, but grew up in Plymouth, Devon here in the UK. After a fairly uneventful time at school I went to University in Plymouth, Bradford and Portsmouth.

I work as biomedical scientist, usually in a blood transfusion lab somewhere in the country. After my training at the Royal Free in London, I have worked in hospitals in Harefield, Harlow, Watford, Gillingham, Birmingham, Oxford & Glasgow. I am just about to start another placement in Burnley.

I like traveling, but I only started going abroad since starting my first real job. My first ever trip abroad was to Pakistan, I have since been to Sweden, Belgium, America and Australia. There are two places that a person must visit if they get chance in the life: The Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef.

I work in professional sport during the summer as a cricket scorer and statistician. What started out as a hobby is now a full time job during the summer months when I work for Worcestershire County Cricket Club. During the winter months I go back to work as a biomedical scientist.

That should be enough boring information for now.....if anything exciting happens, I may just post again...
Kallmann's syndrome is a form of hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism (HH). This is a very long winded way of saying that there is a breakdown in the communication between he brain and the gonads, either the testes or ovaries.

In Kallmann's or HH there is a failure to start or to fully complete puberty. A person will Kallmann's will also have an absent or very reduced sense of smell. Without the correct treatment a person with Kallmann's or HH will not go through puberty, most probably be infertile and have a increased risk of developing osteoporosis.

People with Kallmann's have to take a form of hormone replacement therapy to replace the hormones that are normally produced by the testes or ovaries.

It is a rare genetic, hormonal disorder. The exact genetic cause is unknown, though are a few genes under investigation. It is a lot rarer then the better known Kleinfelter's and Turner's syndromes which have a known genetic cause. It can be inherited if a person undergoes fertility treatment.

It is not a very well known condition, even in the medical community. A lot of ideas have changed about delayed and absent puberty in the last 10 years so a lot of medical text book are out of date.

There are at least 2 patient groups, one on Yahoo and one on MSN where people can get more information.

There are also 2 web sites where information can also be obtained.

www.hypohh.net

www.kallmanns.org


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That is enough about Kallmann's for the moment. I am sure I will mention it again.....

New blog !!

Hello everybody,

I thought it was about time I started a web blog as well.

I have attached it to a web site I run about a medical condition I have. It is called Kallmann's syndrome. It is a rare hormonal condition that means I have no sense of smell and did not go through normal puberty when I was younger.

I may come up with more interesting things to write about, about my work, sports & travels in the next few weeks.