Canadians can take pride in their historical defense of T3 testing in thyroid therapy. Our job defending the T3 test today is to remind people of what has changed since then in thyroid testing, and what is still the same. In 1981, Min Min Wong and Robert VolpĂ©, MD published an article in the Canadian … Continue reading In 1981, Canadian physicians argued T3 was the best test in thyroid therapy
Month: December 2019
Discordance in thyroid symptoms reported by patients and their doctors
There's no surprise that patients and doctors would disagree about the incidence rate of hypothyroid symptoms in a given patient. "We have an average of 7.2 symptoms per patient" says the cohort of 262 patients. "No, you have an average of 4.0 symptoms per patient," says the cohort of 100 doctors about those 262 patients. … Continue reading Discordance in thyroid symptoms reported by patients and their doctors
Thyroid patient blaming and shaming, part 3: Advocacy and Science
In this Part 3, I continue my rebuttal of a research article that blames thyroid patients for causing harm to themselves by making requests of doctors for tests and therapies. In this post, I explain the good signs that thyroid patients' self-advocacy is sometimes effective and is making a difference.
Thyroid patient blaming and shaming, part 2: True barriers
In this Part 2, I continue my rebuttal of a research article that blames thyroid patients for causing harm to themselves by making requests of doctors for tests and therapies. In this post, I provide a fictional dialogue among three of the authors to illustrate their thought process. I then illustrate how the "barriers" are … Continue reading Thyroid patient blaming and shaming, part 2: True barriers
2019 ATA article engages in patient-blaming and doctor-shaming
Some members of the American Thyroid Association (ATA) have achieved a new ethical low. The ATA have published in their official scientific journal, Thyroid, an article by Esfandiari and colleagues (2019) that blames thyroid patients for causing harm to themselves by making requests of doctors for tests and therapies. They titled their paper "Patient Requests … Continue reading 2019 ATA article engages in patient-blaming and doctor-shaming