Browsing by Subject "yhdistelmähoito"

Hypothyroidism affected 337 370 people in Finland in 2019. The hypothalamus-pituitary negative feedback loop is used in the diagnostics of hypothyroidism. TSH, a pituitary hormone, is the most used diagnostic tool with the free thyroxine (T4) in a supporting role. L-T4 has been the main treatment option, since the discovery of peripheral deiodination. Biochemical and clinical euthyroidism is the aim of L-T4 therapy. There are no nationwide official treatment guidelines for hypothyroidism in Finland. The Finnish Endocrine Society has published their recommended guidelines in 2019. Studies have shown that 5–15 % of levothyroxine treated patients continue to report symptoms when they are biochemically euthyroid. The symptoms consist of typical symptoms of hypothyroidism: fatigue, cognitive symptoms, depression, anxiety and weight gain. The molecular basis of the symptoms is not yet known. These symptoms have notbeen studied in Finnish population. The aim of this study was to find out what symptoms levothyroxine treated patients report on Finnish social media support groups and view the current treatment of hypothyroidism and guidelines of treatment. This study was conducted by surveying patient-reported information from social media hypothyroidism related support groups. The posts were divided into two groups: hypothyreotic and athyreotic. The biochemical data and symptoms were collected from 137 posts in the athyreotic group and 191 in the hypothyreotic group. Only posts with TSH under or within the refence range and free T4 within the reference range wereincluded in the study. The results show that patients reported symptoms in 74 % of the posts viewed. 81 % of patients reported symptoms in the hypothyroidism group and 64.2 % in the athyreotic group. The most reported symptom in both groups was fatigue. Symptoms were reported within the normal TSH range (0.5-4 mU/l) and below the normal range (<0.5 mU/l). In asymptomatic patients the median TSH was 0.38 mU/l in the athyreotic group and 0.54 mU/l in the hypothyreotic group. Free T4 seems to be a little higher in the asymptomatic patients in both groups. 16.6-25 % the patients reported that they had had Free T3 measured. Free T3 seem to be higher in relation to free T4 in the athyreotic group that reported having no symptoms. L-T4 is the recommended treatment modality for hypothyroidism. Other options are synthetic combination treatment with L-T4 + L-T3 and desiccated thyroid extract (DTE).This study supports the view that hypothyroidism patients can have symptoms on levothyroxine treatment