how long ATDs?

[Guest guest]

I was just perusing the highlights of the 12th International Thyroid Congress. I

came across the following:

In most centers, the duration of antithyroid drug therapy averages between 1 and

2 years, but some patients are treated for longer (or shorter) periods. Liu and

colleagues[31] examined the effect of duration of treatment on remission rates

and TSH receptor antibody titers. A higher relapse rate was seen in patients

treated for only 6 months, but 36 months of treatment appeared to offer no

advantage over 18 months of treatment. Although there was a reciprocal

relationship between TSH-receptor titers and duration of therapy, with the

lowest levels seen after 36 months, the authors suggest that treatment for

longer than 18 months should not be necessary.

Now, I see that it is no wonder our doctors ore so confused and uninformed on

this type of thing. The article above makes 2 contradictory statements. It's

like the researcher wanted to show that using ATDs beyond 18 months was futile.

His data disproved that, but he stuck by his original thesis anyway! Amazing.