Clearing up confusion between T4/T3 ratio of do... - Thyroid UK

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Clearing up confusion between T4/T3 ratio of dose and resulting ratio in blood

diogenes profile image
diogenesRemembering
18 Replies

Tania Smith has written a nice blog clearing up the difference between a T4/T3 ratio in dosage and the resulting T4/T3 ratio in blood. The two cannot be solidly put together because of the difference in T4-T3 conversion in the blood which alters the ratio taken orally in a way individual to each patient. That is, you can't predict what will happen in blood from dosage alone.

An example of confusion about Free T3: Free T4 ratios

BY THYROIDPATIENTSCA on AUGUST 2, 2021 • ( 0 )

Written by
diogenes profile image
diogenes
Remembering
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18 Replies
Hoxo profile image
Hoxo

I’ve had a quick scan through and there’s lots of great information. I love Tania’s blog posts. Looking forward to having a thorough read through it later.

helvella profile image
helvellaAdministrator

As if anyone would think you could.

Oh - wait a moment... :-)

helvella profile image
helvellaAdministrator

Considering how many very positive comments about Tania's articles we see here, why are there so few "Likes" on them?

I know you need to register in order to do so, but I'd have expected more of them.

Seems only fair to let her know how much we appreciate them.

tattybogle profile image
tattybogle in reply tohelvella

This confuses me too .. as i look at the latest blog post .. at the bottom of the page it appears to have only 2 ' likes' . Can it really be the case that there are only 2 people on the planet who regularly like anything Tania writes ?

I see johannes dietrich has liked one in september last year..

I've been assuming (hoping !) that there more likes that for some reason aren't shown on my page ?

helvella profile image
helvellaAdministrator in reply totattybogle

I don't think there are hidden Likes.

diogenes profile image
diogenesRemembering in reply tohelvella

I acknowledge and support Tania's articles by direct mailing

helvella profile image
helvellaAdministrator in reply todiogenes

It wasn't meant to be a criticism of you - or anyone else - as an individual. Just a hopeful whipping up of members to consider clicking what they like. :-)

Even if Tania is snowed under by supportive emails, it always looks good when blogs receive some on-blog likes.

nellie237 profile image
nellie237 in reply tohelvella

I would 'like' Tanya's articles if it didn't require me to set up a Wordpress account😖

radd profile image
radd in reply tonellie237

nellie237, & helvella

Exactly.

304,668 hits & only 2 'likes', and I'm another who doesn't want a Wordpress account either as am not a blogger, although I really enjoy Tania's articles.

helvella profile image
helvellaAdministrator in reply tonellie237

From that point of view, I agree. 'Tis true I already had a Wordpress ID... but that was set up to comment on another blog!

radd profile image
radd in reply tohelvella

helvella,

Ah, so are you one of those two peeps who have ‘liked’? 😆

LAHs profile image
LAHs in reply tohelvella

I clicked "like" but it took me to a window that asked for my password. I entered the only two possibilities for my HU password but both were rejected. I guessed you had to have a Wordpress account so then I gave up.But please tell Dr. Tanya that I too liked her article.

Aspasia_logios profile image
Aspasia_logios

I can't find the link above, but here it is

thyroidpatients.ca/2021/08/...

mountainice profile image
mountainice in reply toAspasia_logios

thank you

LAHs profile image
LAHs in reply toAspasia_logios

I didn't get the link either, so thanks for re posting it.

mountainice profile image
mountainice

oh, dear, can't really follow any of it

LAHs profile image
LAHs in reply tomountainice

Hi Mountainice, I don't know if this will help but the way I think about this ratio is: How many molecules (or units) of Free T4 do you need to generate 1 molecule (or unit) of Free T3. The answer to this has been measured approximately in the past to be 4:1, i.e. you need 4 units of FT4 to make 1 unit of FT3. To be awkward, some turn this ratio upside down so that instead of 4/1 they use 1/4 and hence they quote .25 rather than 4. (The question they are asking is: if I have 1 unit of FT4 how much FT3 will I get? ... not much!). I prefer the 4:1 way of thinking, it seems to be clearer.To make a sweeping generalization the rest of the article goes on to discuss who did they measure to get that ratio? As with all of life there is always a distribution of results, e.g. some people walk slowly and some people walk quickly, but on the average people will walk at (let's say) 1 mile an hour. Now, what the article is saying is that if you have a problem with your leg should your therapy goal for getting around be forced to be 1 mile an hour (the population average), shouldn't you aim at maybe settling for 1/2 mile per hour because you should really be compared with people who cannot walk very well?

At least that is how would I summarize the article.

mountainice profile image
mountainice in reply toLAHs

How excellent, thank you for your summary.

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