Guest guest Posted February 26, 2000 Report Share Posted February 26, 2000 Hi , is right. Thyroid ab tests are expensive and wouldn't give you much addititional info. Their best use is for monitoring levels of stimulating abs in pregnancy. Since TSI are IGg immunoglobulins, they cross the transplacental membrane. Thus high levels of TSI are capable of causing transient incidences of fetal hyperthyroidism. TSI levels are particularly recommended for pregnant women who have had RAI since RAI causes a temporary increase in TSI which may last for several years. there was an article on this subject in the latest Posgraduate Medicine journal. another reason to monitor TSI is to gauge the response to treatment in patients on ATD's. Jeannette explained in a post last July how her doctor effectively used ab levels to help monitor her response to treatment. Persistently high levels are associated with a relapse from remission. Also, Thyroid Ab tests run on her brother proved that he had a transient thyroiditis rather than an autoimmune condition. This info is so informative that I got Jeannette's permission to include it in my book on GD. By the way, I have a contract and a deadline of June 1 so if anyone has anecdotal info to share, please e-mail me. In particular, I need long terms successful RAI accounts. Thanks to all of you have already shared info and critiqued rough drafts. Although ab levels are predictive of relapse, they can be misleading because of cross reactivity in some assays, differences in interpretation, etc. However, recent studies show that ultrasound studies can also predict possible relapses by measuring thyroid volume which should be reduced in response to treatment. Persistent large thyroid volume is associated with relapse Another recent study in Psychoneuroendocrinology conducted in the Netherlands reports that following treatment for hyperT, many patients (approx 1/3) have psychological complaints, including depression and anxiety. 53% of respondents in their survey reported lack of energy, and over 1/3 with full time jobs were unable to resume the same work after treatment. Well, no wonder...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 27, 2000 Report Share Posted February 27, 2000 Thanks Elaine and and all for info re antibodies. I will not ask for the test each month, but perhaps down the line I will take another look just to compare levels. Shen Holy Macro! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.