This issue marks the end of the 4th year of the Journal of Diabetes and Endocrine
Practice (JDEP) and the 1st year to produce four issues per year. Despite the low
volume of submissions, we kept the ball rolling and we hope to get more confidence
from authors and readers. Maintaining the “relevance” of the journal to its potential
readers remains of paramount importance. Almost all articles were reflective of the
clinical practice and research in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. We hope the quality
of the editorial processes and production will encourage more submissions. We are
grateful to those who trusted JDEP to be the venue for the dissemination of their
research work and opinions. We are also grateful to our old and recent friends from
all over the world for contributing expert comments to put the articles in a clinical
context. We hope to continue this to support both the North-South and South-South
dialogs.
The Abstracts of the Free Communications of the Gulf Association of Endocrinology
and Diabetes Virtual Congress 2021 held on October 7–9, 2021, take a noticeable portion
of the current issue. We hope the authors benefit from the event to consolidate their
ideas by interacting with their colleagues on the web during the event. We also hope
to see many of these abstracts getting fully published. Nonetheless, we also included
other ordinary articles. Several original articles are included in this issue. We
have the first survey from the Middle East and Africa on the clinical practice patterns
in the management of thyroid nodules from the MENA Endocrine Group. A systematic review
addresses the effectiveness, safety, and parental satisfaction of insulin pump therapy
versus multiple-dose injection therapy in preschool children with Type 1 diabetes:
a systematic review and meta-analysis by Muammar et al. from the Imperial College
London Diabetes Center of Abu Dhabi. Saad et al. from the Dubai Diabetes Center publish
their cross-section study on diabetes distress and depression among patients with
Type 2 diabetes in the United Arab Emirates. Two articles focused on the topic of
the year by addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diabetic ketoacidosis
admissions to a COVID-19-free hospital in the UAE and the impact of the lockdown and
changes in clinical practice on glycemic control during the COVID-19 pandemic from
the National Diabetes Center in Doha, Qatar. Also, the lipid profiles of Nigerians
living with Type 2 diabetes mellitus were investigated in a systematic review and
meta-analysis. Two review articles addressed some topical and futuristic perspectives.
The first reflected on what we know on the impact of thyroid nodule location on the
risk of thyroid cancer by the Mayo Clinic group. The second reviewed current evidence
and rationale for combined surgical and cell therapy in critical limb ischemia with
special focus on diabetic patients by the Abu Dhabi Stem Cell Center in UAE.
Finally, two interesting case reports are included. The first is on de novo NSD1 mutation
leading to Sotos syndrome as the first case to be described from Oman. The second
is a case series on the characteristics and outcome of subacute thyroiditis following
COVID vaccine.
As we say goodbye to the year 2021, we would like to thank our publisher (MedKnow)
for the last 4 years. We wish you all the best for the New Year 2022.
