BACKGROUND The population of the UK is ageing. There is compelling evidence that thyroid stimulating hormone distribution levels increase with age. Currently, in UK clinical practice elderly hypothyroid patients are treated with levothyroxine to lower their thyroid stimulating hormone levels to a standard non-age-related range. Evidence suggests that mortality is negatively associated with thyr...

OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND To discuss a unique clinical entity where inappropriate activity of inhibitory and stimulatory thyroid antibodies resulted in alternating hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. METHODS We report the clinical history, laboratory data, and results of imaging studies, along with the pathophysiological mechanism and the subsequent treatment in a patient with fluctuating thyroid ...

During pregnancy, the thyroid gland must produce 50% more thyroid hormone to maintain the euthyroid state. Women with decreased thyroid reserve preconception, most typically due to Hashimoto's thyroiditis, may develop hypothyroidism during pregnancy. Data over the last 20 years have reported a strong association between subclinical hypothyroidism and adverse maternal/fetal events. As a result o...

Volume 91, Number 6 www.aafp.org/afp American Family Physician 359 Primary hypothyroidism is defined as low levels of blood thyroid hormone due to destruction of the thyroid gland. This destruction is usually caused by autoimmunity or an intervention such as surgery, radioiodine, or radiation. • It can be classified as clinical (overt) when diagnosed by characteristic clinical features, raised ...

Thyroid diseases are common, and use of levothyroxine is increasing worldwide. We investigated the influence of gender, race and socioeconomic status on the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disorders using data from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil), a multicenter cohort study of civil servants (35-74 years of age) from six Brazilian cities. Diagnosis of thyroid d...

Subclinical hypothyroidism is a common finding when serum thyrotropin and thyroid hormones are measured, but the benefits of treating such patients with levothyroxine remain unproven. During the 14th International Thyroid Congress, a debate and discussion relating to three different clinical case scenarios of subclinical hypothyroidism was held. The audience consisted predominantly of members o...

Complementary medications and herbal medicine for weight loss have become very popular. We report a case of thyroid dysfunction following the ingestion of a kelp-containing marketed diet in a 45-year-old woman with no previous thyroid disease. Signs of hyperthyroidism occurred shortly after a kelp-containing diet. Hyperthyroidism lasted 2 months and was followed by an overt hypothyroidism. The ...

On the rare occasion when neonatal goiter is the cause of airway compromise, it typically presents with a palpable neck mass. In the setting of maternal Graves' disease (GD), fetal and neonatal goiters are most commonly caused by maternal treatment with antithyroid medication, and the goiter resolves within days of initiation of thyroxine replacement in the neonate. We describe an atypical pres...

AIMS To test the hypothesis that feeding soy formula to infants with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) leads to prolonged increase of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). METHODS The study was a review of 78 patients seen during their first year of life between 1990 and 1998. Data regarding clinical diagnosis, date of treatment initiation, TSH, levothyroxine dose, weight, length, and diet informat...

introduction: fasting during the holy month of ramadan is an obligation for all adult, healthy muslims. as several studies have indicated, both fasting and energy restriction can alter thyroid hormone metabolism and affect the clinical features and well-being of hypothyroid patients. hypothyroidism is more prevalent among women and the elderly. its prevalence has been reported to be 4-8% of the...