22 Nov Seasonal Changes in Thyroid Function Tests
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Charit Taneja, MBBS
Internal Medicine Resident
Maria Brito, MD
Co-Director, Mount Sinai’s Thyroid Center
Assistant Professor, Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: There have been reports of seasonal fluctuations in thyroid function, however there are no standard guidelines for management of such fluctuations and their clinical implications. It is not a well-studied subject and there are insufficient guidelines around its clinical implications.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: Our patient had winter elevation of TSH and summer normalisation repeatedly over a course of three years, but remained largely asymptomatic despite the biochemical alterations.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
- Seasonal changes can occur in TSH, and would become clinically important in the following scenarios: pregnancy, postpartum, and in patients that are symptomatic from thyroid dysfunction.
- So long as the abnormality is mild, patients with asymptomatic fluctuations in thyroid function don’t necessarily require treatment with levothyroxine, given the cyclical normalization.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?
Response: Ours was a case study from a single patient. We are looking for patients with similar variations to study thyroid function trends and their clinical implications in a larger group. Widespread use of thyroid function testing in asymptomatic individuals could possibly result in greater detection of such cases.
We have no disclosures.
Citation:
SEASONAL TRANSITIONS BETWEEN EUTHYROIDISM AND SUBCLINICAL HYPOTHYROIDISM
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Last Updated on November 22, 2019 by Marie Benz MD FAAD