New TSH Range Suggested By Endocrinology Association InFocus, Vol. 11, No. 1, March 2003

      New clinical guidelines published by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) suggest that the TSH level ranging from 0.5 to 5.0 to diagnose and treat patients with a thyroid disorder may be missing millions of Americans who suffer from a mild thyroid disorder but have gone untreated. Now the AACE encourages physicians to consider treatment for patients who test outside the boundaries of a narrower margin based on a target TSH level of 0.3 to 3.0.

      The TSH is a simple blood test called the thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) test. Using the TSH test, any physician can determine whether someone is suffering from an overactive or underactive thyroid--in many cases, even before patients begin to experience symptoms. According to Hossein Gharib, M.D., president of AACE, "The new TSH range from the AACE guidelines gives physicians the information they need to diagnose mild thyroid disease before it can lead to more serious effects on a patient health, such as, elevated cholesterol, heart disease, osteoporosis, infertility, and depression."

      Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) is present in 80 percent of patients diagnosed with thyroid disease. Common symptoms include fatigue, forgetfulness, depression, mentioned by Dr. Gharib, constipation, and changes in weight and appetite. Although mild hypothyroidism can often be treated by a primary care physician, AACE recommends that certain types of hypothyroidism patients see an endocrinologist: patients of 18 years or less; patients unresponsive to therapy; pregnant patients; cardiac patients; and patients showing a presence of goiter, nodule, other structural changes in the thyroid gland, or other endocrine disease.

      The thyroid gland, a butterfly-shaped gland located in the neck just below the Adam apple and above the collarbone, produces hormones that influence essentially every organ, tissue, and cell in the body. Thyroid disease is of particular concern to women since they are five to eight times more likely than men to be diagnosed with the condition. The elderly are also at increased rise for the disease as, by age 60, as many as 17 percent of women and 9 percent of men have an underactive thyroid. Thyroid disease is also linked to other autoimmune diseases, including certain types of diabetes, arthritis, and anemia. For example, 15 to 20 percent of people with type 1 diabetes, as well as their siblings or parents, are at a great risk of testing positive for a thyroid disorder.

      While the TSH blood test is the most sensitive and accurate diagnostic tool for thyroid disease, AACE also recommends that patients perform a simple self-examination called the Neck Check(TM) to help detect whether they might have an enlarged thyroid gland and then speak to a doctor about further testing. For step-by-step instructions on how to perform the Neck Check or to view the new AACE clinical guidelines for hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism, visit the AACE Web site at www.aace.com or send a stamped, self-addressed envelope (legal size) to the AACE at 1000 Riverside Ave., Suite 205, Jacksonville, FL 32204.

Source: The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, PRNewswire