New Zealanders have had enough they are now sending a petition below to parliament.Your countries should be doing the same.Normal within range blood tests for thyroid don't mean anything if you have symptoms.I had normal blood tests for 26 years made to feel like a hypochondriac.One antibodies blood test 2 months ago showed I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis for the past 26 years!
Thyroid Association of New Zealand wants for its citizens and are lobbying parliament to
Help NZ Thyroid Patients Get Treatment That Works
We call upon the NZ Parliament to hold an official Inquiry into the diagnosis and treatment of patients with signs and symptoms of thyroid disease. We ask the Inquiry to consider:
Doctors to increased access to the full range of thyroid blood tests;
Bette funding for treatments containing the active thyroid hormone T3;
To provide up to date education for all doctors and endocrinologists on thyroid diagnosis and treatment; and to promote positive open dialogue between doctors and patients.
Thyroid disease is more common than diabetes and heart disease.
The World Health Organisation puts the worlds population of diagnosed thyroid patients at >750 million. New Zealanders diagnosed population is >146,233. Many more are misdiagnosed or experience mismanaged care.
Common symptoms include debilitating unexplained fatigue, unexpected weight gain/loss, depression, miscarriage, cold/heat intolerance and brain fog. Left untreated thyroid disease influences the onset of other diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and dementia; and in some cases early death.
In the 1940s and 1950s doctors and endocrinologists diagnosed on signs and symptoms, prescribing treatments that worked. Then came the arrival of the TSH blood test and a synthetic drug called Levothyroxine which changed the way many doctors and endocrinologists diagnose and treat patients. As a result there is a large number of patients for whom these diagnostic and treatment approaches do not work. For example, all too often:
- Doctors and endocrinologists miss altogether or misdiagnose thyroid disease in patients because they fail to recognise the signs and symptoms. Patients are often tested unnecessarily for other illnesses imposing cost on them and District Health Boards.
- Patients who are prescribed Levothyroxine often experience ongoing symptoms. Alternative thyroid treatments containing a thyroid hormone called T3 work better for many of these patients. Most are never offered this treatment even though it is available, safe and effective.
It is now difficult to find a NZ doctor or endocrinologist with the right knowledge to help thyroid patients. Those NZ doctors who are successfully diagnosing and treating thyroid disease need greater support; and the other doctors and endocrinologists need further education.
By signing this petition you can help us change this. Each signature represents a patient, or a person who loves a patient who has been misdiagnosed, mistreated or dismissed by their endocrinologist or doctor.
Thyroid Association of New Zealand is a patient-to-patient support group, started in July 2008. We are a voluntary organisation, whose founding members came together when Glaxo Smith Kline changed their Eltroxin formulation, causing adverse reactions among users.
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Topic: Thyroid Tests in normal range? Do not think your symptoms aren't thyroid.🤔 (Read 1038 times)