Hypothyroidism - or an underactive thyroid - affects one in 70 women and one in 1,000 men according to the NHS. But it can be a tricky disease to diagnose and treat. Dr Michael Mosley, of Trust Me I'm a Doctor, asks if sufferers are slipping through the net.
Someone emailed me the other day to ask me if I had ever considered the possibility that I might have hypothyroidism; an underactive thyroid. The reason he contacted me is because he had seen me on television and noticed that I have quite faint eyebrows, which can be a sign of this disorder..........
"Certainly Dr Toft thinks that current UK guidelines are sometimes interpreted too rigidly.
"If the T4 is right down at the lower limit of normal," he says, "and the TSH is at the upper limit of normal, then that is suspicious. It doesn't often arouse suspicion in GPs, but it should."
He is also concerned that when a GP does diagnose an underactive thyroid, then patients are almost always prescribed a synthetic version of T4.
This works most of the time but in some cases the symptoms don't improve. This might be because with some patients the problem is not an underactive thyroid, but the fact that they can't convert enough T4 into the active hormone T3.
One way round this is to take T3 hormone in tablet form, but here price is a problem.
"The cost of T3 has escalated incredibly," says Dr Toft. "It's now about £300 for two months' supply of T3, whereas it costs pennies to make."
Oh how amusing, 90% of doctors will tell you it is a common, minor, easily diagnosed and easily treated condition. The real problem is getting them to acknowledge those outside the rigid parameters.
I wonder how many gps will take notice of this considering that they aren't permitted to colour very far outside the lines without getting their knuckles rapped.
I wonder what has happened to Dr Toft to change his opinions, or at least his way of expressing them? If I remember correctly he said he regarded Dr S as 'an intelligent rogue who may have stumbled upon something important without recognising its significance.' So I guess it was up to Dr T to recognise and define that significance as he is here, saying that some people do actually benefit from combination therapy and in the end that might be achieved by taking ndt.
And what's the story behind the macho decision not to get tested when so many docs will tell you that uat symptoms are mildly inconvenient and some people have no symptoms at all?! Go on Dr M, it's just a little prick.
Harrumph, I guess I should be glad someone is taking some notice.
Better bookmark the link. Some of us might be bringing this article to our gps in future.
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BBC article by Dr Michael Mosley
Is this hypothyroidism?
Hypothyroidism and No Period
