The present issue of the Journal is the first issue after the formal establishment of the Gulf Association of Endocrinology and Diabetes (GAED). The Association was formed after the dissolution of the Gulf Chapter of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) following the AACE's move to abandon all of its domestic and international chapters including the Gulf Chapter. Consequently, leadership of the chapter, its founding directors senior members have decided to regroup and rebrand under the new name. The Bylaws were adopted, all the legal processes have now been completed and the new body is fully established and registered as an independent regional association by the authorities of Dubai. The journal is now the official publication of The GAED.
The dream of establishing a regional journal with international standards has been the driving force of the Gulf endocrine group for long. The chapter's congress proceedings in the first few years of its life were published in another journal initially and were repatriated to this journal from its inaugural issue onward.
Under the new affiliation, the journal will continue its mission set out in the opening editorial: “an international journal with regional flavor.”[[1]] We remain focused on metabolic and endocrine disorders in the region and worldwide. We still hope that endocrinologists and diabetologists in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region count it as their voice to the world and that endocrinologists and dialectologists around the world consider it a medium of communication.
We remain committed to publish research of high quality and rigorous acumen. More importantly, JDEP places ethical issues in research at the forefront of its charge. I hope all of you will consider JDEP to share your research and views in the fields of endocrinology and metabolism.
I am personally privileged and honored to take over from Ali Alzahrani, the founding Editor-in-Chief. I hope to meet the expectations of the Board and Membership of GAED. I look forward to the support of members of the GAED and the endocrine community of the Gulf and MENA regions and all endocrinologists who share our interests and concerns.
In the current issue, we have 2 reviews, 4 original articles, 2 commentaries and one inaugural article in our new ritual of “state of the association” One of the reviews addresses the role of measuring serum and salivary glucose levels in the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. The second review summaries the potential of nasal glucagon in better and effective management of severe hypoglycemia in insulin treated diabetes. The original articles include a survey demonstrating the lack of knowledge about hypoglycemia among adult patients with diabetes in Saudi Arabia. The review and survey are accompanied by a very thoughtful commentary by Professor Brian Frier on identifying and treating hypoglycemia in insulin-treated diabetes. The association of admission hyperglycemia with adverse clinical outcomes among critically ill patients was evaluated in a prospective, observational study. The effect of treatment duration on metabolic parameters in patients with prolactinoma was examined in a another prospective longitudinal study. Finally, accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology in detecting thyroid cancer in resected thyroid nodules at a referral hospital (Cleveland Abu Dhabi). The renewed interest and ongoing debates over thyroid nodules in the Gulf were revisited in the accompanying commentary in Dr. Aly Khalil et al.
We hope to receive unlimited flow of submissions of all sorts of articles and we promise the highest quality of editorial and ethical processes and spirit.
