Just found a very interesting item about blood counts and thyroid function.
Most especially that the person behind it has this attitude:
There is so much to learn about the role of thyroid hormones in hematopoiesis and coagulation. ... and IT IS ALL SO INTERESTING!
The link is to a website (despite referring to Twitter):
Thyroid and Hematology
TBP Tweetorial
nice find ....
you know , i'm starting to think someone should check the signs outside the medical college of endocrinology ... are they all pointing in the wrong direction ??
.. why is it that the only people who seem to find thyroid interesting all work in some other Dept. of medicine ?
Perhaps because the vast majority only went into endocrinology for what they thought would be an easy life? After all, for thyroid, just look at the TSH number and dole out some levo pills. Or some carbimazole pills. Or cut out the thyroid, then look at the TSH number and dole out some levo pills.
Even when they cut out the thyroid, they subcontract that to the surgeons.
And RAI is subcontracted to the nuclear scientists.
And ultrasound scans are subcontracted to medical imaging.
And blood draws are subcontracted to phlebotomists.
It is a bit like someone who has only ever driven an automatic car being asked to explain a manual gearbox (stick shift, as the USAians say) and clutch and how to drive with them. Some theoretical idea but no real understanding.
I suspect that is we were able to conduct the research, we would find endos end up with some of the lowest rates of thyroid disorder of any grouping of people you could define. (E.g. all doctors, population of a place, or whatever.) If more of them actually knew what it was like to go through, they'd find their clinics extremely challenging.
So true about the sub-contacting, but I'd say understanding the workings and far reaching impact of the thyroid and its hormones is far, far more difficult than the automatic to manual car analogy 😀
True - it's closer to understanding how to design and build the car from steel in a stockyard.
Although it is complex overall, I do feel like the core important thyroid stuff could fit onto a couple of pages of A4 paper.
What most endos know seems like it would be a handful of sentences. And a few of those sentences would be myths.
I personally feel they went there for diabetes and discovered they had to deal with thyroid as an (unpleasant) afterthought so they try to minimise contact with the offending part of their career as much as possible.
Hello Helvella, I thanked for this post saying this was interesting and that I have microcytic anaemia, diagnosed not by an endocrinologist, certainly not a GP but by a gastroenterologist! However I can’t see that post …. So wondering what happened? Anyway sending this post so hope it works this time.
I had a technical problem - my first attempt to post refused to let me add an image.
So I re-posted and deleted my original post. But, though I thought I'd checked, must have missed your reply. Apologies for that.
Was your "Missing Post" the one that included various links to thyroid research papers? If so, thank you. I clicked on one link and found it interesting, tho not easy for me to fully (!!!!!!!) follow. I did really like this image...I'll try and see if I can Post it here....it's a diagram of the impact of thyroid hormones on the human body and mind. tattybogle maybe this needs to be put by the front door of all endocrinolgy departments?
academic.oup.com/view-large...
No - the missing post was identical to this one!
The multi-link one I think you mean was this:
Thematic Issue: Thyroid Disease 2022
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
Yes, thank you.....I haven't read right to the bottom...concentration got tired 
but was intrigued by the diagram. ...linked above.
In Endocrine Reviews, Jonklaas ( academic.oup.com/edrv/artic... ) discusses the subtleties of optimal thyroid hormone replacement, including the possible use of liothyronine in addition to levothyroxine.
That would be good . preferably life size ... with lights and bells on.
I'm now thinking it should be in every GP practice and every medical training centre. Maybe if medics understood just how much impact thyroid has on body and mind, more of them would be interested in studying the thyroid?
I totally agree it is very interesting! I hope young medics start to see endocrinology as a cutting-edge area of medicine to be in but until the stupid old reactionary farts are ousted it will remain a stodgy, unrewarding and dreary prospect for them, just as it is for us!
It makes my heart sink every time I hear of battles folk face to
a) get diagnosed b) get the treatment they need c) the dreaded "your TSH is below range so you are over-medicated" and "your dose will be reduced"....willy nilly as to how the patient actually feels. d) a diabetes specialist will see you now.
NP Thyroid
Reversing Damage to your Thyroid
