Adrenal gland
A number of endocrine diseases involve dysfunctions of the adrenal gland. Overproduction of cortisol leads to Cushing's syndrome, whereas insufficient production is associated with Addison's disease. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a genetic disease produced by dysregulation of endocrine control mechanisms. A variety of tumors can arise from adrenal tissue and are commonly found in medical imaging when searching for other diseases.
The adrenal glands are located on both sides of the body in the retroperitoneum, above and slightly medial to the kidneys. In humans, the right adrenal gland is pyramidal in shape, whereas the left is semilunar or crescent shaped and somewhat larger. The adrenal glands measure approximately 3 cm in width, 5.0 cm in length, and up to 1.0 cm in thickness. Their combined weight in an adult human ranges from 7 to 10 grams. The glands are yellowish in colour.
Stefan R. Bornstein
Professor Bornstein’s scientific focus lies on the adrenal gland as on organ of stress, stem cell research and advances in islet cell transplantation as a therapy for diabetes. This is why, presently, Dresden is the only active German center of this treatment. Since 2011 Bornstein has been spokesman for the research group KFO 252 of the German Science Association (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG) and one of the coordinators of the Paul-Langerhans-Institute Dresden. Since 2012, he has been scientific secretary of the DFG Transregio 127.
Main research areas are: endocrinology and internal medicine (e.g. adrenal gland, stress, and stem cell research), diabetes, transplant medicine (e.g. new strategies to improve diabetes treatment), public healthcare and preventive medicine (prevention of diabetes)Bornstein is chief of the medical clinic and policlinic III (Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik III) at the university hospital Carl Gustav Carus in Dresden, which is a major centre of treatment and research of diabetes mellitus type I and type II in Europe as well as its sequelae, like the diabetic foot syndrome, heart and blood vessel diseases and diabetic nephropathy. A major topic is creating individual treatment strategies to prevent the increase in diabetes prevalence. That is why in 2009 they created the first professorship for diabetes prevention in Germany. In 2008 started the only currently active program of islet transplantation in Germany. This treatment is a great benefit for patients with diabetes type I with great deviations in their glucose blood levels. Recent research includes a bioreactor of insulin-producing cells in a small implantable chamber which offers an immunoisolation, making the implantation possible without immune suppressive therapy.Furthermore, Professor Bornstein published more than 30 textbook articles about endocrinology and internal medicine (Schettler Greten, Thieme, Innere Medizin, Becker: Principles of Endocrinology and Metabolism, etc.) and he is author of the book “Evolution, Stress and modern Medicine” (Progressmedia), published in 2006. His works are cited more than 12.000 times, his h-index is 53.