New hypothyroidism treatment guidelines from American Thyroid Association

Published in Thyroid journal

2014-09-30

(Press-News.org) New Rochelle, NY, September 30, 2014—Levothyroxine (L-T4), long the standard of care for treating hypothyroidism, is effective in most patients, but some individuals do not regain optimal health on L-T4 monotherapy. New knowledge about thyroid physiology may help to explain these differences. An expert task force of the American Thyroid Association on thyroid hormone replacement reviewed the latest studies on L-T4 therapy and on alternative treatments to determine whether a change to the current standard of care is appropriate, and they present their recommendations in the article "Guidelines for the Treatment of Hypothyroidism," published in Thyroid, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers and the official journal of the American Thyroid Association (ATA). The Guidelines are available free on the Thyroid website.

Task force co-chairs J. Jonklaas and A.C. Bianco, with colleagues from the Clinical and Translational Science sub-committees, coauthored the Guidelines on behalf of the American Thyroid Association Task Force on Thyroid Hormone Replacement. The authors reviewed the clinical literature related to three main therapeutic categories: levothyroxine therapy; non-levothyroxine-based thyroid hormone therapies (including thyroid extracts, synthetic combination therapy, triiodothyronine therapy, and compounded thyroid hormones); and use of thyroid hormone analogues.

The task force concluded that levothyroxine should remain the standard of care for treating hypothyroidism, noting that no consistently strong evidence supports the superiority of alternative therapies. They emphasize that the recommendations are intended to guide physicians' clinical decision-making on thyroid hormone replacement therapy for individual patients.

"These very comprehensive guidelines provide a superb overview on the current evidence about treatment modalities for patients with hypothyroidism," says Peter A. Kopp, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Thyroid and Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Molecular Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois. "In addition, the document highlights gaps in our knowledge and indicates which topics are in need of future research, for example the need for long-term outcome clinical trials testing combination therapies and continuing research on thyroid hormone analogs."

"These ATA guidelines, developed by an expert team, provide useful, up-to-date information on why to treat, including subclinical disease, who to treat, and how to treat hypothyroidism. Information is evidence-based and recommendations are graded. I think they will be used extensively by all clinical endocrinologists, especially by our members," says Hossein Gharib, MD, President of the ATA, Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota.

INFORMATION:

About the Journal

Thyroid, the official journal of the American Thyroid Association, is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options and in print. The Journal publishes original articles and timely reviews that reflect the rapidly advancing changes in our understanding of thyroid physiology and pathology, from the molecular biology of the cell to clinical management of thyroid disorders. The Thyroid journal program also includes the monthly highly valued abstract and commentary publication, Clinical Thyroidology (Editor-in-Chief Jerome M. Hershman, MD), and a videojournal companion to Thyroid, VideoEndocrinology (Editor Gerard Doherty, MD). Complete tables of content and sample issues may be viewed on the Thyroid website.

About the Society

The American Thyroid Association (ATA) is the leading worldwide organization dedicated to the advancement, understanding, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of thyroid disorders and thyroid cancer. ATA is an international membership medical society with over 1,700 members from 43 countries around the world. Celebrating its 91st anniversary, the ATA delivers its mission—of being devoted to thyroid biology and to the prevention and treatment of thyroid disease through excellence in research, clinical care, education, and public health—through several key endeavors: the publication of highly regarded professional journals, Thyroid, Clinical Thyroidology, and VideoEndocrinology; annual scientific meetings; biennial clinical and research symposia; research grant programs for young investigators, support of online professional, public, and patient educational programs; and the development of guidelines for clinical management of thyroid disease and thyroid cancer. The ATA promotes thyroid awareness and information through its online Clinical Thyroidology for the Public (distributed free of charge to over 11,000 patients and public subscribers) and extensive, authoritative explanations of thyroid disease and thyroid cancer in both English and Spanish. The ATA website serves as the clinical resource for patients and the public who look for reliable information on the Internet.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, Journal of Women's Health, Journal of Men's Health, and Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's more than 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

High-speed drug screen

2014-09-30

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- MIT engineers have devised a way to rapidly test hundreds of different drug-delivery vehicles in living animals, making it easier to discover promising new ways to deliver a class of drugs called biologics, which includes antibodies, peptides, RNA, and DNA, to human patients. In a study appearing in the journal Integrative Biology, the researchers used this technology to identify materials that can efficiently deliver RNA to zebrafish and also to rodents. This type of high-speed screen could help overcome one of the major bottlenecks in developing disease ...

US military making progress reducing stigma tied to seeking help for mental illness

2014-09-30

The U.S. Department of Defense has made progress in reducing the stigma associated with seeking help for mental illnesses such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, but more improvement is still needed, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Despite efforts of both the Defense Department and the Veterans Health Administration to enhance mental health services, many service members still do not seek needed care for mental health problems. Defense officials have made a concerted effort to promote treatment as a way to reduce stigma, according to the study. ...

Laser-guided sea monkeys show how zooplankton migrations may affect global ocean currents

2014-09-30

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 30, 2014--Sea monkeys have captured the popular attention of both children and aquarium hobbyists because of their easily observable life cycle -- sold as dehydrated eggs, these tiny brine shrimp readily hatch, develop and mate given little more than a tank of salt water. Physicists, though, are interested in a shorter-term pattern: Like other zooplankton, brine shrimp vertically migrate in large groups in response to changing light conditions, coming closer to the surface at night and retreating deeper during the day. Two researchers at ...

Taking thin films to the extreme

2014-09-30

WASHINGTON D.C., September 30, 2014 – Applying a well-known optical phenomenon called thin-film interference, a group of researchers at Harvard University has demonstrated the ability to "paint" ultra-thin coatings onto a rough surface -- work that holds promise for making future, flexible electronic devices, creating advanced solar cells and detailing the sides of next-gen rocket ships and spacecraft with extremely lightweight decorative logos. When light passes through oil in water, it becomes iridescent, revealing a myriad of colors that glisten and shift along with ...

Unexpected new mechanism reveals how molecules become trapped in ice

2014-09-30

WASHINGTON D.C., Sept. 30, 2014 – Ice is ubiquitous in nature—found within terrestrial and astrophysical environments alike—and contains many atoms and molecules trapped inside it. For example, ice beneath the world's oceans hosts a vast reservoir of greenhouse gases, which if released would have a profound effect on climate change. On the earth's surface, seasonal ice and permafrost-covered regions represent a vast reservoir for the collection, concentration and release of environmental and trace gases—encompassing national security concerns about the persistence and ...

Breakthrough study discovers 6 changing faces of 'global killer' bacteria

2014-09-30

Every ten seconds a human being dies from pneumococcus infection making it the leading cause of serious illness across the globe Research discovers six unique states of pneumococcus Knowledge of these six characteristics can help in development of tailored vaccines Every ten seconds a human being dies from Streptococcus pneumoniae infection, also known as pneumococcus, making it a leading global killer. An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Leicester in collaboration with international experts have unlocked a genetic switch controlling ...

Americans undergo colonoscopies too often, study finds

2014-09-30

Colonoscopies are a very valuable procedure by which to screen for the presence of colorectal cancer. However, it seems that healthy Americans who do undergo this sometimes uncomfortable examination often have repeat screenings long before they actually should. Gina Kruse of Massachusetts General Hospital in the US and colleagues advise that endoscopists stick to the national guidelines more closely. Their findings appear in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, published by Springer. Current national guidelines strongly recommend that adults aged 50 and older should ...

Longitudinal report shows challenging reality of ageing with an intellectual disability

2014-09-30

Dublin, Ireland, September 30th, 2014 – A new report launched today by the Intellectual Disability Supplement to TILDA (The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing) conducted by academics from the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, has highlighted the serious, complex and unique health and social challenges facing Ireland's intellectual disability population. The IDS-TILDA study is the first study of its kind in Europe and the only one in the world with the ability to compare the ageing of people with intellectual disability directly with the ...

Contaminated water linked to pregnancy complications, BU study finds

2014-09-30

Prenatal exposure to tetrachloroethylene (PCE) in drinking water may increase the risk of stillbirth and placental abruption, according to a new study led by a Boston University School of Public Health researcher. The study, published in the journal Environmental Health, compared 1,091 PCE-exposed pregnancies and 1,019 unexposed pregnancies among 1,766 women in Cape Cod, Ma., where water was contaminated in the late 1960s to the early 1980s by the installation of vinyl-lined asbestos cement pipes. PCE exposure was estimated using water-distribution system modeling software. ...

NEJM: Crizotinib effective in Phase 1 trial against ROS1 lung cancer

2014-09-30

The New England Journal of Medicine reports positive results of a phase 1 clinical trial of the drug crizotinib against the subset of lung cancer marked by rearrangement of the gene ROS1. In this multi-center study of 50 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer testing positive for ROS1 gene rearrangement, the response rate was 72 percent, with 3 complete responses and 33 partial responses. Median progression-free survival – the time it takes for the disease to resume its growth after being slowed by treatment – is estimated at 19.2 months with exactly half of ...

nTIDE March 2025 Jobs Report: Employment rate for people with disabilities holds steady at new plateau, despite February dip

While most Americans strongly support civics education in schools, partisan divide on DEI policies and free speech on college campuses remains

Revolutionizing surface science: Visualization of local dielectric properties of surfaces

[Press-News.org] New hypothyroidism treatment guidelines from American Thyroid Association
Published in Thyroid journal

New hypothyroidism treatment guidelines from American Thyroid Association

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: