Saturday, February 19, 2011

How Common Is Thyroid Disease? You might be suprised to see how common it is! Robert g Carlson, MD, FACS

Thyroid Disease: The Numbers
How Common Is Thyroid Disease?

When the AACE (American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists) established new TSH Guidelines (0.3 - 3.0 vs. 0.5 - 5.0, and Labcorp and your physician still insist that a level of 4.5 is normal?)) the number of people estimated to be affected by abnormal thyroid function doubled.
According to the AACE, the number of people affected by Thyroid Disease now surpasses the number of people diagnosed with Diabetes or Heart Disease.
• 27 Million: The number of Americans estimated to suffer from Thyroid Disease. (And 75 % of those patients are being treated with the worthless therapy of only T4 or synthroid alone)
• 13 Million: The number of Americans estimated to suffer from Thyroid Disease...but remain undiagnosed.( I think that this number is much higher)
• 14 Million: Estimated number of Americans affected by Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (Autoimmune Thyroiditis / Hypothyroidism). And that means that the TSH lab test , and even all the basic thyroid lab tests are worthless. And by the way, 30% of women over the age of 50 will have these antibodies, will have classic low thyroid symptoms, and will be told their lab values are normal! The lab tests are worthless, and the ONLY way to manage Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is by adjusting the medications to a patient’s signs and symptoms.
• 8 out of 10: Patients with Thyroid Disease are women.
• 5x - 8x: Women are 5 to 8 times more likely to suffer from Hypothyroidism than men.
• 25%: Approximate number of women that will develop permanent Hypothyroidism.
So stop suffering from low energy levels (especially in the late afternoon), weight gain( despite eating right and exercising), brain fog, muscle aches and pain, poor digestion, hair loss, dry skin and depression. Just say “no” to only being tested with TSH, and demand to get the full panel. If you are NOT getting better on replacement therapy, demand that your doctor checks your thyroid antibodies. And demand that your doctor takes care of you and NOT a worthless unreliable lab test like TSH.

2 comments:

Just Say Goo said...

I have so many friends now too that are having severe thyroid issues but only listening to their endocrynologists who are not listening to them! OMG the insanity of it all. They have all the symptoms you discuss over and again, and their TSH is 'normal'. Whatever! I am so lucky with you having my back Dr. Rob. So grateful you are on my team. I can never ever thank you enough.

Russell Moris said...

im 17 and just found out i have hypothyroidism Ive never heard of it before i thought i was just anemic. i was tired constantly and feeling down. Finally, I decided to go to the MD and he prescribed porcine thyroid capsules . Thank God I'm finally feeling better now.