We have seen many, many images of hypothyroid females in the past weeks - to the extent that members could be forgiven for thinking it was a uniquely female disorder.
For that reason, I have located some historical images of a male before and after eight and a half months of treatment. We need to see both even if by far the majority are female.
I have seen all sorts of claims for female: male ratio - this link claims 6:1. So an awful lot of males!
Thank you helvella for this great post. I'm afraid that thyroid issues does not discriminate when it comes to males females and even children. However I read somewhere that percentage wise thyroid issues is much higher in females.
Graves disease seems to be about 5:1.
And just hypothyroidism (unqualified) about 6:1.
Cancer is at least 2:1.
So not for one moment disagreeing about how the ratios fall.
What is the ratio on your list of famous people with thyroid disorder I wonder?
Now incorporated into...
helvella - Vade Mecum for Thyroid
The term vade mecum means:
1. A referential book such as a handbook or manual.
2. A useful object, constantly carried on one’s person.
Currently has the following sections:
Abbreviations and Acronyms
Alerts Amino Acids Antibodies Elements
Famous People with Thyroid Disease
Fine Dose Adjustment
Hydration: Anhydrous vs. Pentahydrate
Human Hormones
Iodine Content of Thyroid Hormones
Medicine Classifications
Pathology Handbooks
Pharma Contacts
Pharmacy Locations
Prescription Latin
Serious Shortage Protocol (SSP)
Tests (Summary)
Tests – LabTestsOnline
Thyroid Binding Proteins
Thyroid Diseases, Disorders and Syndromes
Thyroid Hormones
Thyroid Hormone Ratios
Thyroid Medicines
Units – Grams, Milligrams and Micrograms
Vitamins X-codes
Yellow Card Reports
Not everything is in this one document - my major medicines document is still separate!
Thanks for this important reminder.When those pictures were taken, patients were treated with NDT, hence, regrowth of hair & what looks like a very good recovery. I wonder if he would have done so well on T4 only?.....
🤔
But surely that first chap is just suffering from male menopause ?
You can see how much better he was just because he wore a tie!
(How much do collars and ties, especially if a bit tight, affect the thyroid?)
Agreed . I think 'looking a bit unkempt' should be added to the official list of signs /symptoms of hypothyroidism.
As for the tight collars and ties . dunno , i rarely did mine up properly
We should bear in mind that these ratios (I've seen 10:1) only refer to diagnosed cases which usually means autoimmune hypothyroidism. Other causes such as endocrine disruption probably have a 1:1 ratio and some like central hypothyrodism resulting from a period of thyrotoxicity probably have a female predominance. Each time we cite a ratio we are unconsciously excluding those who have not been diagnosed.
Each time we cite a ratio we are unconsciously excluding those who have not been diagnosed.
Very much agree and glad you posted.
Medicine is chock full of such things.
The old aphorism about hearing hooves and thinking horses not zebras, is all very well. Statistically, it makes sense. But we need to see the lack of stripes to be sure. Until we do, we must keep in mind that it could still be zebras. Or the various other equids such as donkeys and asses.
In my family 9 of us are hypothyroid which include 3 males
My husband was diagnosed with a tsh of 120! Old photos clearly show he had a serious illness as his whole body was swollen this was 25 years ago.
Well said helvella !
Thankfully, these days it's totally acceptable for males to wear make-up.
So all you hypo/hyper guys can still participate by sporting your butterfly wing eye liner 😆
One thing that probably makes it less obvious that men suffer from thyroid disease is that few of them seem to join health-related forums like this one.
The photograph looks quite old, perhaps we could find out if that miraculous transformation was due to NDT?
If the pictures are as old as they appear to be the man will have been given NDT because it was all there was available at the time.
helvella Can you tell us where you got the pictures from, please.
I'd be surprised if it weren't from 1930s to 1940s - that is, when the only available treatments were the various forms of desiccated thyroid.
Sorry - have not got an accurate date.
The very ealiest photo of hypothyroidism was taken in 1878 - a woman.
This is a shirt collar from 1907 so it’s later than that but given it’s a more or less curved possibly not that long after?
lol .glad i'm not the only one who just spent 10 minutes looking up the history of shirt collars ... i found plenty that match very closely from the 20s and 30s .. but of course we don't know if it's a bloke in the 1940's wearing a 10 yr old shirt collar. In the photo with the dressing gown , is that a collarless shirt he's wearing .. or is it just his pyjama top with the collar in a mess ?
When did blokes stop wearing separate collars anyway ?
( No i haven't got anything better to do .. i'm waiting for my bolognaise to thicken up )
Let’s check hairstyles next!
cant decide if that's an intentional short back and sides .. or if it's just that his hair has only just grown back
Intentional surely, there’s more hair on the sides in the recovery shot but less on top.
This guy has the collar and the hair, again 1920’s
I think it’s an older style round collared night shirt. Not out of place in the 1920’s or 30’s it looks a tad moth eaten too unless it’s a rough linen
My grandad was still wearing collarless shirts in the 50's - My father inherited his collar-box.
Good detective work!
Mind, I wore a detechable collar shirt (stiff, starched collars, buttons only halfway down, studs (of course), etc.) at school. It wasn't quite as fancy as the one you have shown!
I didn’t know you were that old helvella! I can’t remember my brother or dad wearing anything like those - nylon shirts were all the rage but I think you could get detachable collars even for them
Nylon! Huh - cotton through and through. And I can't think of the name where the upper front, the bit that covers the sternum, is double layered.
And extremely white.
Glad to hear you’ve got very good taste in shirt materials! Gusset? Yoke?
I have been trying to find the term for the style we had.
They were similar to many evening dress shirts in having a bib area which actually had two layers of material. But that was cut off square at about diaphragm level - not tapered. And not some fancy pleating - just plain.
In some ways they were very like grandad shirts but I usually think of those as being made in striped fabric.
Many, but not all, were Van Heusen brand.
I think that by the time I was wearing them, the uniform store only had a small number left. Likely they had been there for years before being issued. There were quite a few modern-style shirts which you wouldn't be at all surprised to find today.
Seems the soft round collar which is what he’s wearing was being superceeded by pointed collars in 1923 and by 1928 the Barrington pointed collar had become the most popular style. So 20’s, or 30’s …. if he was a bit old fashioned, seems to be a probable time scale for the photo.
My moneys on the Kentville second to last in bottom row
Deffo - my research put the photos probably 1920’s or 30’s, despite being supposedly dodgy stuff 🙄 it’s worked wonders for him! Just as it has for me.
if we're playing 'guess the date' .. i'm going for 1937 (and Bernard isn't keeping up with the fashion .. but then he wouldn't be would he , poor bugger .. he's probably been feeling shit since about 1925.... I hope i win a hamper of NDT when Helvella eventually discovers the date .
🤣🤣🤣 I want that hamper!
Since it feels rude talking about him without knowing his name .. i've decided to call him Bernard.
Shaw thing. 
Deffo not as late as the 40’s, the hair or rather Bernard’s hair looks 20’s or 30’s and no natty cravat either
Mmm .. He looks more like a Cecil . mind you, my dad still had hair like Bernard in 1966
Our Bernard Cecil (no relation to Sir Henry) looks a jolly sight better and happier for the NDT, that’s for sure!
There’s only the tie, dressing gown and nightshirt left for dating. Did your dad wear curved collars too?
helvella I bet discussion of mens hair and collar styles was the last thing on your mind when you first posted this!
tattybogle TSH110
Thanks for brightening up a dreary Sunday afternoon!
Glad it hasn’t caused any annoyance
It's probably been helpful .. since we've now established that Helvella must be at least 102 .. he probably needs his bell ringing every 5 seconds to stop him nodding off on a sunday afternoon.
Sorry Helvella xx
I used to be like that before I took NDT!
I wish I could have seen that much improvement after 8 1/2 months. Still waiting ...
me too .. most of the time my face still looks more like Bernard in his dressing gown days
One of the bags under my eyes has reduced more than the other.. I look lopsided. Really hope the other bag trots off soon as well..
At what age are we eligible for dressing gown days? Can’t wait!
Lmao been 2 years for me stillWaiting hahaha
My dad brother and nephew are hypothyroid
For some reason females seem to have a harder time with hypothyroidism.
Men with thyroid disease need to be able to feel welcome here , and have their experience validated . Comments like that will simply put them off from posting about their experiences .
The fact that less men get thyroid problems does NOT make it any easier for them to deal with when they do.
if we turn you comment around, say you had a disease that more men got than women, and you felt alone and unheard... then imagine finding a knowledgeable and supportive community that was inevitably mostly used by men .. would reading a comment from a man saying "for some reason men seem to have a harder time with this disease than women " make you feel welcome, and listened to .. or would you think it was sexist ?
Relax, I understand men have this disease and also suffer with improper care but its just seems to me that more women come here looking for answers then men thats all I meant.
Hypothyroid and also maybe b12deficient
Endocrinologist recommendations needed - female hormone specialist 
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