Sorry if this has been posted already, but this is great news for all the people I see on here who are desperate for T3 treatment, and just for thyroid conditions in general. Dr Malcolm Kendrick, the mainstream maverick, famous for his work on statins and cholesterol (The Great Cholesterol Con) and his more recent book, Doctoring the Data, has put his weight behind how badly thyroid patients are treated in the UK, specifically, the idiocy of refusing T3 treatments, and the fact that many hypothyroid patients are being missed because of overly-rigorous treatment qualifications via blood tests.
He leaves no stone unturned, covering everything and not mincing his words. This should do wonders to put thyroid treatment problems on the radar. Who knows, this might be the breakthrough thyroid sufferers are looking for. It's hard to dismiss anything Kendrick says and lots of docs will sit up and listen.
You can read the whole article here. Please spread the word!
I think we should all write and congratulate him for taking up this 'thorn-in-a-side' for many who have to struggle and are denied medication which might make them resolve all their symptoms. I just hope 'they' don't go after him like they have to done to others who told them their guidelines were incompatible with us recovering.
That's a very good idea, Shaws, I second that! Shower the man in thanks and encourage him - maybe we'll get a book out of him! I wouldn't worry about people going after him. He's already been through the mill with his controversial opinions on heart disease, statins and cholesterol. If he can withstand that, he can withstand anything!
I've just posted my comments. He certainly stands no nonsense. He was a guest at Thyroiduk.org.uk's Conference in Birmingham (home of Dr Skinner) and pulls no punches.
I need to follow suit, Shaws, if I can think what to say. I feel presumptive here because I have, so far, had no problems getting my hypothyroidism recognised. But I look at the struggles of others on here and it's very distressing, especially when I consider that treatment may not work for me too and I may be in their place sooner rather than later.
But I do need to go on there and show my appreciation. Just for his gumption in taking a stand so counter to current thinking, if nothing else.
I think the fact that they take no notice of clinical symptoms nowadays in favour of the blood test which fails thousands of people. We do need a Champion who isn't afraid to stand up and be counted, even if it rebounds on his own career.
We have also read of some who have such discouraging consultations and treated discourteously by someone whom you are relying upon to know how to make you well.
We know many do fine on levo but the ones who don't have to have alternatives.
Precisely. I look at the hundreds of people I see on here every day, struggling with overdosing and underdosing, or not being able to get treated at all, although they feel like death heated up, and I hear some of the conversations they have with doctors and I want to storm the battlements! It's especially galling having to fight your doctor for every crumb, or to be able to give a perfectly lucid, cogent argument for your treatment and they will say something about the labs not letting them, or a simple blank no. I've encountered that many times, just getting to where I am now, and I've lost count of how often the frustration has reduced me to tears. It's positively medieval and, worse than that, completely unnecessary. Why insist on education lasting many years if doctors are then not expected, or allowed, to think for themselves?
Ah, wish I'd seen him, Harry. I'm jealous. He is a brilliant man; he combines scientific rigour with imagination and a questioning mind - that's a rare combination.
Yep. One of my biggest problems with alternative health practitioners who flout mainstream medicine is either their own gullibility or the way they prey on gullibility in others. With men like Kendrick you know you are getting a good scientist as well as a sceptic and a maverick.
Well he seems to have survived the Statins scenario - which is the biggest earner for Big Pharma and of course all those that have connections and yet work for various controlling bodies like NICE etc - so am sure he has earned his stripes and is more than ready for those who disregard thyroid patients - hurray !
Ah, he's tough, Muffy. He knows the medical establishment and still doesn't shy away form controversy. Frankly, thyroid sufferers couldn't have anyone better on their side.
Yes, he gives him a nod in the article, doesn't he? I think that's admirable too. So many doctors, especially ones in the public eye, are keen to hog all the glory for themselves. Mark of a decent man, I think.
Good idea, Polly. I'm keeping a copy myself, should I need T3 treatment further down the line!
So pleased that Dr Kendrick has exposed the murky world of thyroid 'treatment' and let's hope that those who need to learn do read it as well as read the inevitable posts from those who've suffered hugely at the hands of the NHS.
Yeeehaaaaaa! At last! A doctor with cojones! He's been an advisor on NICE - he's got clout, he's got academic rigour, he's got courage, tenacity and - did I say he's got cojones? And he's a Scot! (I'm biased. And English, by the way, but Scots are a far superior race - forgive me fellow Anglunculi!)
My sentiments entirely, Schenks. It makes a HUGE difference to have someone like him on board. Other doctors pay attention to what he says, and the establishment can't afford to ignore him indefinitely. After all, he was right about statins & cholesterol!
Have you seen this in the comments from someone called 'thetinfoilhatsociety'?
" Thank you for approaching this subject. It’s what I did my master’s thesis on. In America, the governing body is paid for by the two largest thyroid (T4 naturally) medication manufacturers worldwide. And in their statement of ethics they say quite clearly that a patient who is hypothyroid may not be in control of their faculties due to their hypothyroidism and thus should not be listened to if they say they want to try NDT or T3 in addition to T4."
Wow! Talk about a Catch 22! Big Pharma really is evil!!!
"The treatment side is just as absurd with the insistence that one drug works for everyone and if the patient still complains, it must be the patient’s fault, brilliant, its somatoform disorder. This concept came from a UK physician. How can I describe his intellect? To paraphrase Sir Winston Churchill, “An empty cab pulled up to number 10 Downing and out stepped this doctor and apparently most of endocrinology was sitting next to him.” "
A wonderful read and a wonderful doctor. He does not care what people think he tells it as it is. I had also read about his comments about Statins, this man is wonderful. I just wish that he was my doctor!
I have to confess me too, GG. It sounds like something out of fiction, like the evil doctor from a Victorian novel, trying to get the 'little woman' discredited so they can lock her up and throw away the key. All it's missing is moustache twirling!
I just wonder if the vile trolls who always appear on thyroid articles in the press will turn up and start lobbing rocks at this article. I do hope not.
Do you ever suspect they might be doctors, Harry? Or do you think they're just those odd, resentful souls you get who think someone else might be getting away with some unknown something: a sort of 'I've suffered, now it's your turn'?
I'm positive some of them are doctors! It wouldn't do for their little worlds of domination to be disturbed now, would it? And there are always some of the other type too, the Ines who resent that you have done the legwork yourself & acted on it. I've had people tell me I've been brave & others tell me I've been reckless. But all I care about is that now am better
Yep, been there, done that, got the T shirt, Harry. Sadly I know exactly what you mean... but absolutely ace that it paid off for you. At least you can smirk at the naysayers!
They do seem to be overwhelmingly favourable on there, Humanbean - perhaps the thyroid sufferers swamped it! But I did see one comment referring to these mavericks as "these unsavoury doctors". Not trolling, as such, but you do have to love melodrama like that - now all I can picture is thyroid doctors operating under a red light in a shady alley and offering abortions on the side!
I know this happens in the comments section of every article published by the newspapers on the subject of thyroid treatment, but the litany of suffering, misery, hopelessness, pain, and anger showing up on Dr Kendrick's blog is shocking. No doubt there will be more shocking articles in future, with more shocking comments. The people responsible stay in the shadows and are never held to account, while their colleagues creep about, saying "Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir" to the people in charge while they let their patients suffer and die.
Dr K has said in response to one of the posts that he doesn't know how to make things change. I think any change must come from within the ranks of the medical profession themselves. And that just ain't going to happen.
Well, now that Kendrick has lent his weight to it, that's a sure sign the cracks are showing. Of course, it's been known to take twenty years for the cracks to widen enough to bring the ancient edifices down, so I don't know how much it will benefit any of us! But those of us with children or younger relatives can at least be confident they might fare better.
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Dr Malcolm Kendrick's Blog - the 't' word has been mentioned!!
Dr Malcom kendrick
