Endocrinology

The Department of Endocrinology of China-Japan Friendship Hospital was founded in 1984. It is a key discipline of China-Japan Friendship Hospital and was rated as a National Clinical Key Specialty in 2011. The department is a comprehensive medical research and practice center integrating clinical care, scientific research, and teaching, and is one of the hospital's disciplines holding a nationwide leading position.

Department staff: The department director is Chief Physician Zhang Bo, and the deputy directors are Chief Physician Chen Xiaoping and Associate Chief Physician Song Lulu. The department currently has 9 chief physicians, 3 associate chief physicians, 10 attending physicians, 3 resident physicians, 2 technicians, 15 nurses, and other staff. Among them, 22 hold doctoral degrees and 4 hold master's degrees. Physicians with intermediate or senior professional titles account for 88% of the physician team; those holding master's or doctoral degrees or above account for 89.7%; including 2 doctoral supervisors and 5 master's supervisors. The department is now a doctoral training base and postdoctoral mobile station for the endocrinology specialty of Peking Union Medical College, Peking University Health Science Center, and the University of Chinese Medicine, and is also listed as a hospital clinical pharmacology base unit selected by the National Medical Products Administration. At present, the department has a team of highly qualified personnel holding master's, doctoral, and postdoctoral degrees; all physicians over 40 years of age have overseas study and advanced-training backgrounds, having pursued research in the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, Denmark, Singapore, Japan, and other countries as visiting scholars, postdoctoral fellows, or doctoral students. Many physicians in the department serve as members or hold higher positions in the Endocrinology Branch and the Diabetes Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, the Endocrine and Metabolic Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, the Endocrine and Metabolic Branch of the Chinese Geriatrics Society, the Geriatric Osteoporosis Branch of the Chinese Society of Geriatric Health Care Medicine, the Endocrinology Branch of the Beijing Medical Association, the Osteoporosis and Bone Mineral Research Society of the Beijing Medical Association, and the Thyroid Disease Expert Committee of the Beijing Medical Association. Over the years, the department has served patients wholeheartedly with superb medical skills, advanced medical testing equipment, and sound medical ethics, winning wide acclaim from patients from all over the country.

Professor Yang Wenying, former discipline leader and former department director, served as Chairman of the Diabetes Society of the Chinese Medical Association and Vice President of the Asian Diabetes Association. She served as Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Journal of Diabetes and Executive Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Diabetes Investigation. She is currently a member of the National Science and Technology Progress Award Review Committee and a specially appointed expert of the Central Health Care Committee. She has won the Ministry of Health Science and Technology Progress Second Prize, the Beijing Science and Technology Progress First Prize, the Chinese Medical Association Science and Technology Progress Second Prize, the International Insulin Secretion Research Award, and many other awards. She has published more than 200 medical papers in influential core journals at home and abroad; the internationally renowned journals in which she has published as first author or corresponding author include N Engl J Med, Circulation, Euro-Heart J, and Diabetes Care. She has extensive clinical experience and enjoys a high academic standing in the field of endocrinology.

Professor Li Guangwei, former discipline leader and former department director, served as Vice Chairman of the Endocrinology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association for both the seventh and eighth terms. He currently also serves as Chairman of the Geriatric Health Care Research Association, a member of the Disease Prevention and Control Expert Committee of the Ministry of Health, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism. He has won the Ministry of Health Science and Technology Progress Second Prize and the Chinese Medical Association Science and Technology Progress Second Prize. His main research fields are the control and prevention of diabetes and its cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications, and insulin resistance and hypertension. The China Daqing Diabetes Prevention Study, in which he participated as one of the principal members, is known as a milestone in world diabetes prevention research. The follow-up study of the Daqing Diabetes Prevention Study, which he led as principal investigator, was the first to report that lifestyle intervention can reduce cardiovascular events and the risk of death in people with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). He has published hundreds of papers in Chinese and English. The internationally renowned journals in which he has published as first author or corresponding author include Lancet, Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Diabetes Care, and Diabetologia. He has extensive clinical experience and enjoys a high academic standing in the field of endocrinology.

The current discipline leader Zhang Bo, PhD and Chief Physician, serves as Chairman of the Diabetes Expert Committee of the National Telemedicine and Internet Medicine Center. He is the convener of the Diabetes Internet Alliance of the National Telemedicine Center and formulated the first diabetes telemanagement guideline in China. In 2019, he founded a second-level branch society: the Endocrinology and Diabetes Branch of the Bethune Spirit Research Association, and became its first president. The society currently has more than 2,000 members and has established 18 professional committees. Its members cover 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, uniting a team of specialist physicians who carry forward the Bethune spirit, possess excellent professional skills, are closely integrated with the three-tier diagnosis and treatment mechanism, and focus on internet-based medical care for endocrinology and diabetes, promoting the development of internet healthcare in China.

Chief Physician Zhang Bo also serves as a Standing Committee member of the Endocrinology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and head of the Adrenal Group. He first proposed the discipline concept of interventional endocrinology and, in cooperation with related disciplines, led the founding of China's first academic organization for interventional endocrinology: the Interventional Endocrinology Professional Committee (Group) of the Endocrinology Branch of the Bethune Spirit Research Association. He actively promotes the use of minimally invasive non-surgical techniques (interventional microwave ablation, laser ablation, interventional radiotherapy, etc.) to treat endocrine tumors (thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal tumors, etc.), so as to better provide patients with individualized high-end services.

Chief Physician Zhang Bo undertook the project of the 13th Five-Year National Key Research and Development Program, "Research on the Current Status of Control of Multiple Risk Factors, Risk Prediction Models, Appropriate Intervention Techniques, and Management Strategies for Populations at High Risk of Diabetes." By combining mechanistic research and adopting advanced technologies, China's diabetes prevention field continues to maintain its world-leading position.

Outpatient and inpatient settings:

The department currently has 11 specialty outpatient clinics, namely: the Thyroid Puncture Follow-up Clinic, the Post-Thyroid-Surgery Follow-up Clinic, the Continuous Glucose Monitoring and Insulin Pump Clinic, the Obesity and "Three Hypers" Clinic, the Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease Clinic, the Geriatric Diabetes Management Clinic, the Early-Onset Diabetes Clinic, the Diabetic Neuropathy Clinic, the Pregnancy and Endocrine Disease Clinic, the Parathyroid Disease Clinic, and the Pituitary-Adrenal Disease Clinic. There are 51 inpatient beds in total. There are two function examination rooms, one endocrinology laboratory, and one clinical pharmacology base research room.

Introduction to diagnostic and treatment equipment:

The Diabetes Prevention and Treatment Research Laboratory owns internationally advanced high-tech precision equipment such as chemiluminescence immunoassay analyzers, high-performance liquid chromatography HbA1c analyzers, and PCR amplifiers, and can test multiple endocrine and metabolic disease indicators including insulin, thyroid hormones, adrenal cortical and medullary hormones, glycated hemoglobin, and urinary microalbumin; it has repeatedly been selected as the central laboratory for national multi-center drug studies. The department is equipped with a laser Doppler plus transcutaneous oxygen pressure monitor, a whole-body peripheral vascular examination system, a digital vibration sensation threshold examination system, a color vascular ultrasound diagnostic instrument, a bioelectrical impedance body fat analyzer, and a fundus camera, enabling comprehensive and detailed evaluation of various diabetes complications and ultrasound-guided thyroid puncture.

Department's diagnostic and treatment features:

The Department of Endocrinology specializes in the diagnosis of diabetes and thyroid diseases, and can also diagnose and treat a variety of difficult and severe endocrine diseases:

1. It holds a nationwide leading position in the diagnosis, treatment, management, prevention, and drug observation of diabetes. It is able to perform mature and advanced medical techniques such as the glucose clamp technique, insulin pump intensive therapy, and continuous glucose monitoring. In addition, through long-term clinical practice, the department has established a unique and practical comprehensive management system for diabetes treatment and research, which can provide long-term, effective monitoring and management of patients' various indicators, so as to minimize and delay the occurrence and development of diabetes complications. It has opened a number of diabetes-related specialty clinics, including the Early-Onset Diabetes Clinic, the Geriatric Diabetes Management Clinic, the Pregnancy Endocrine and Metabolic Clinic, the Diabetes Education Clinic (education, diet), and the Diabetic Peripheral Vascular and Neuropathy Screening Clinic, providing refined management for diabetic patients in different situations.

2. It has opened a thyroid puncture follow-up specialty clinic and performs several hundred thyroid fine-needle punctures annually, enabling accurate pathological diagnosis of thyroid diseases. Since February 2012, BRAF gene mutation testing has been performed on fine-needle puncture samples, giving the department a significant leading advantage in differentiating benign from malignant thyroid masses.

3. It pioneered insulin pump intensive therapy in China, offering diabetic patients with severely elevated blood glucose (newly diagnosed, with a disease course shorter than 5 years) the opportunity to control blood glucose well for several months to several years while taking less or no medication. At present, a Continuous Glucose Monitoring and Insulin Pump Intensive Therapy Clinic has been launched.

4. It has opened the Obesity and "Three Hypers" specialty clinic, providing systematic diagnosis and treatment for obese patients, controlling their weight, and improving metabolic disorders such as hyperuricemia, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia. In particular, for obesity accompanied by menstrual disorders, infertility, female hirsutism, and so on, comprehensive treatment through weight reduction and improvement of insulin sensitivity achieves good results.

5. It has opened the Osteoporosis and Bone Metabolism specialty clinic, performing etiological differentiation for every osteoporosis patient and screening for parathyroid diseases, osteomalacia, renal tubular diseases, and so on, safeguarding patients' bone health comprehensively through diet, exercise, and medication.

6. It ranks among the nation's most advanced in the diagnosis and treatment of endocrine and metabolic diseases of the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, adrenal glands, parathyroid glands, and gonads. Relying on laboratory advantages, it can rapidly and accurately perform endocrine tests related to pituitary-adrenal diseases. In cooperation with neurosurgery/urology, it provides preoperative and postoperative management and follow-up for endocrine tumor patients. Specialty clinics already opened by the department also include the Pituitary and Adrenal specialty clinic, the Parathyroid Disease specialty clinic, the Post-Thyroid-Surgery Follow-up clinic, and so on.

Current specialty clinics:

The department currently has 11 specialty outpatient clinics, namely: the Thyroid Puncture Follow-up Clinic, the Post-Thyroid-Surgery Follow-up Clinic, the Continuous Glucose Monitoring and Insulin Pump Clinic, the Obesity and "Three Hypers" Clinic, the Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease Clinic, the Geriatric Diabetes Management Clinic, the Early-Onset Diabetes Clinic, the Diabetic Neuropathy Clinic, the Pregnancy and Endocrine Disease Clinic, the Parathyroid Disease Clinic, and the Pituitary-Adrenal Disease Clinic.

Department's research achievements:

Since the founding of the hospital, the Department of Endocrinology has achieved fruitful research results. It has led more than 30 research projects, including the national "Ninth Five-Year" key research project, National Natural Science Foundation projects, Ministry of Health ministerial-level projects, Beijing Capital Health Development Fund projects, Chinese Medical Association clinical medical research special fund projects, and hospital-level projects, and has participated in a number of collaborative projects, such as the national "Tenth Five-Year" key research program, major projects of the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, projects of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization projects, European Association for the Study of Diabetes fund projects, the National 863 Program tissue engineering special project, and Beijing Capital Health Development Fund projects. The department also maintains long-term and close cooperation with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, with research funding of nearly 50 million yuan.

Professor Pan Xiaoren, founder of the department and its first director, led the completion of the "Daqing Diabetes Prevention Study" from 1986 to 1992. This study was the earliest randomized controlled diabetes prevention clinical trial in a population at high risk of diabetes (impaired glucose tolerance, IGT) in the world, and for the first time proved that lifestyle intervention can prevent diabetes — a major contribution made by Chinese diabetologists to world diabetes prevention research. Together with the later similar diabetes prevention studies in the United States and Finland, it is hailed as a landmark study in the primary prevention of type 2 diabetes worldwide. Professor Pan Xiaoren also led the completion of China's second large-scale diabetes epidemiological study, the "National Diabetes Prevalence Survey" (1994), which summarized the patterns and changes in diabetes prevalence in China.

Professor Yang Wenying, former department director, led the completion of the "National Diabetes Epidemiological Survey" of 2007-2008. The finding on the prevalence of diabetes in the Chinese population derived from the survey was published in the world's top medical journal, the New England Journal of Medicine, laying a solid research foundation for carrying out diabetes prevention and treatment work in an in-depth and effective manner throughout society.

Professor Li Guangwei, former department director, led the completion of the follow-up study of the Daqing Diabetes Prevention Study and found that the effect of lifestyle intervention in preventing diabetes persists long after the intervention stops; this finding was published in the renowned journal Lancet in 2008. It was the first to report that lifestyle intervention can reduce cardiovascular events and the risk of death in people with IGT; these research findings were published in a Lancet subsidiary journal in 2014 and 2019.

Zhang Bo, Chief Physician, the current department director presiding over the department's work, is responsible for the project of the 13th Five-Year National Key Research and Development Program, "Research on the Current Status of Control of Multiple Risk Factors, Risk Prediction Models, Appropriate Intervention Techniques, and Management Strategies for Populations at High Risk of Diabetes." Combining mechanistic exploration, the study promotes the real-world translation of the Daqing diabetes research findings and the discovery of new diabetes prevention targets, keeping China's diabetes prevention field at the world's leading position.

Professor Yang Wenying also independently designed and led the study of initial oral drug therapy in Chinese newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients (the MARCH study), whose results proved for the first time that the α-glucosidase inhibitor acarbose was non-inferior to metformin, the only drug recommended by Western guidelines for initial therapy, as initial medication for Chinese type 2 diabetes patients; this finding modified the hyperglycemia treatment pathway in the guidelines and has been widely promoted. She originally designed and led the study of the efficacy and safety of a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor combined with an α-glucosidase inhibitor, a sulfonylurea, or metformin (the SUCCESS study), providing new evidence for initial combination oral therapy of type 2 diabetes in the Chinese population.

Department experts have published a large number of medical papers in influential journals at home and abroad. Within the past five years, the department has published more than 300 papers in core journals at home and abroad. The internationally renowned journals in which papers have been published as first author or corresponding author include N Engl J Med, Lancet, Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Circulation, Euro-Heart J, and Diabetes Care.

Department's teaching:

1. The China-Japan Friendship Hospital Endocrinology Forum has been held for five consecutive years and has received an excellent response.

2. The department receives 25-30 advanced-training physicians each year; all physicians in the department share what they have learned selflessly and have won unanimous praise from the advanced-training physicians.

3. Every year, it completes on schedule multiple national continuing education projects with the hospital as the organizer, national continuing education projects with academic societies as the organizers, and district-level and municipal projects.

4. It trains several graduate students of Peking University Health Science Center and Beijing University of Chinese Medicine every year.

5. The nursing team trains more than ten diabetes specialist nurses from all over the country each year.

Department honors:

The department has successively won the National Science and Technology Progress Award Second Prize (2007), the Ministry of Health Science and Technology Progress Second Prize (1995), the Beijing Science and Technology Progress Second Prize (2001), the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Progress Third Prize (2001), the International Insulin Secretion Research Award twice (2006, 2007), the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award Second Prize (2011), and the Beijing Science and Technology Progress First Prize (2012); in addition, it has won the China-Japan Friendship Hospital Science and Technology Progress Award many times. In 2011, it was rated as a National Clinical Key Specialty in the first batch.

Location within the hospital:

The Endocrinology outpatient clinic is located on the 4th floor of the Outpatient Building, and the inpatient ward is located on the 5th floor of Building J.

Department telephone: Outpatient: 010-84205254, Ward: 010-84205712, Nurses' station: 010-84205718

In 2018, the former Traditional Chinese Medicine Diabetes Department was merged into the Department of Endocrinology, becoming the Second Inpatient Ward of Endocrinology, which specializes in the integrated Chinese-Western medicine diagnosis and treatment of diabetes and its acute and chronic complications and metabolic syndrome. In treatment, it emphasizes the combination of disease differentiation and syndrome differentiation and values the integration of Chinese and Western medicine. The department currently undertakes the "Yin Huihe Famous Veteran TCM Doctor Studio" project of the Beijing TCM "3+3" Inheritance Project of the Beijing Municipal Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has excellently completed the task of TCM academic inheritance, and won the "Beijing TCM Inheritance Contribution Award."

The department values giving full play to the expertise of different physicians, and every physician has his or her own academic achievements. It currently has 1 chief physician, 3 associate chief physicians, and 5 attending physicians, including 1 national outstanding clinical TCM practitioner and 4 with doctoral degrees. The department is a high-quality nursing model ward with 26 beds, including 4 single rooms, 6 double rooms, and 2 five-person rooms, which can meet patients' different needs.

Diagnostic and treatment features:

1. Prevention before illness onset: individualized lifestyle guidance and TCM syndrome differentiation and treatment are adopted to improve the abnormal constitution of patients with obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and metabolic syndrome, and to prevent the onset of diabetes.

2. Preventing transmission after illness onset: for patients who do not yet have diabetes complications, hypoglycemic, antihypertensive, lipid-regulating, blood-activating and stasis-removing, and other drugs are used rationally to bring all indicators under control; combined with Chinese herbal intervention treatment, to prevent and delay the occurrence of complications.

3. For patients with diabetes complications, a series of TCM internal and external therapies (medicated baths, enemas, etc.) are used in combination to delay the progression of complications; reduce systemic damage and improve patients' quality of life.

4. Specialty clinics for diabetic nephropathy, diabetic peripheral neuropathy, diabetic gastroparesis, and so on are set up, adopting integrated Chinese-Western medicine treatment to relieve symptoms such as edema, numbness, pain, skin itching, abnormal sweating, palpitations, early satiety, and alternating diarrhea and constipation.

5. Alongside drug treatment, patients are given health guidance in terms of fitness exercise, medicated diet therapy, psychological adjustment, and lifestyle modification, so that patients learn to adopt a healthy lifestyle and benefit for life.

Specialty clinics for TCM diabetic nephropathy, diabetic peripheral neuropathy, diabetic gastroparesis, and obesity are available.

Location within the hospital:

The TCM outpatient clinic of Endocrinology is located on the 1st floor of Building M, and the inpatient ward is located on the 4th floor of Building J.

Department telephone: Outpatient: 010-84205254, Ward: 010-84205712, Nurses' station: 010-84205718