Thyroid gland transplant?

[henrythewasp]

Just a thought and hopefully not a silly one as this came up in a conversation while slightly under the influance.Many organs can be used for transplant so why not the thyroid gland or is there a reason why and i just havn't seen it yet?.....oh......we are sober now lol.

[Hennerton]

Not a silly question and I wish it were possible. I had to have mine out 8 years ago and would love a shiny new one! I think the problem would be the drugs one is on for life to avoid rejection, so I imagine only real problems like heart, kidneys etc, would be worth it, as they are life threatening. I suppose we must just be glad there is something to keep us going, albeit not exactly the best treatments available, judging by all of us unhappy thyroidees.

[helvella Administrator]

As Hennerton wrote, not a silly question. I suggest you have a read here:

online.liebertpub.com/doi/a...

Unfortunately: a) this is all that is currently available; b) you might have fun zooming in and moving around in order to read it; c) if I have understood right, the paper will become available next year in PubMed Central PMC3570830 [Available on 2014/2/1]; d) it is cut abruptly at the end of the first page.

It is worth the effort.

Rod

[marram]

Very interesting.

I suppose that for someone like me with Graves' it would just lead to the need for a third thyroidectomy as the Graves antibodies would probably overstimulate the replacement gland...or would the immunosuppressant drugs prevent that?

This has opened up a whole new can of worms.... lol

[Jane104 in reply to marram]

If it was grown from your own cells I don't think you need immunosuppressants(?). I guess with both Graves and Hashi's the antibodies would likely attack any new tissue. Fascinating article.

[helvella Administrator in reply to marram]

Quite agree.

I don't think we understand why the stimulating antibodies are produced in the first place!

It would be good to see the production of these antibodies being the target of Graves' treatment. Maybe, in time, ...

Rod

[Lanchenba]

Let's think about life with something new.Let's work and pray together .