Patients should not have to cross their fingers, wait, and hope for change. The hopes of hypo- and hyperthyroid patients focus on attaining individually-optimized treatment. Their hopes, wishes, and requests are not unreasonable. Effective treatment ought to alleviate symptoms and improve health outcomes. Relative changes in thyroid hormone doses have a measurable effect on certain … Continue reading 5 steps to individually-optimized thyroid therapy
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.
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
Clinical guidelines are supposed to promote patient health and encourage evidence-based medicine and physician discernment, but thyroid guidelines aim to restrict testing, restrict medication, and prevent any change in therapy practices. Indeed, the enforcement of restrictions appears to be the main purpose of local and international thyroid therapy guidelines today. These thyroid therapy guidelines, and … Continue reading How thyroid guidelines are being used to punish doctors
In recent years, Canadian and other international thyroid guidelines have enacted local policies that restrict thyroid therapy and testing, often citing the American Thyroid Association (ATA) & American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists' (AACE) guidelines in 2012. What most "guideline policers" fail to notice is that the 2012 ATA-AACE's guidelines begin with a disclaimer against their … Continue reading 2012 ATA thyroid guidelines ask for clinicians’ independent judgment
