Dr. Rouzier will be starting a new online workshop series that addresses how to treat thyroid disease – especially treating T3 deficiency. He will be reviewing the literature that supports assessing clinical parameters for accurate thyroid function instead of just measuring TSH levels. He will review how endocrine disrupting chemicals can adversely affect thyroid related symptoms but not serum thyroid levels.
Objectives
Upon completion of this workshop, the healthcare professional will be able to:
1. Review literature demonstrating that clinical parameters are a much more accurate assessment of thyroid function than TSH level.
2. Recall why experts now support that Free T4 and free T3 are much more accurate in determining thyroid function than TSH.
3. Demonstrate why ACCE guidelines utilizing TSH as the choice method of monitoring thyroid therapy warrants change.
4. Evaluate why TSH is an imprecise indicator of tissue thyroid hormone levels but is the standard for diagnosing clinical hypothyroidism despite evidence to the contrary.
5. Review the evidence that TSH is not a good marker for adequate thyroid hormone replacement, but Free T3 is, yet it is ignored in current guidelines.
6. Evaluate how endocrine disruptive chemicals can adversely affect thyroid related symptoms but not serum thyroid levels, according to AACE.
7. Explore how some patients with severe biochemical hypothyroidism (high TSH) can have mild symptoms yet others with only mild biochemical hypothyroidism (subclinical hypothyroidism) can present with severe signs of tissue hypothyroidism.
8. Navigate through the conclusions published in the BMJ whereby thyroid therapy should be guided by clinical and metabolic presentations and clinical symptoms, and not by serum TSH levels.
9. Based on all of the foregoing, we’ll review recent literature from experts on the best treatment to improve signs and symptoms of thyroid deficiency despite the thyroid lab tests (TSH) being normal.
10. Recognize how and why current guidelines are 20 years behind current literature.
