Endocrine Abstracts

Iodine is an essential part of thyroid hormones, and many processes in the thyroid gland adapt to changes in iodine supply. Still, abnormalities in iodine intake are of major importance for the occurrence of thyroid diseases. Historically, the intake of iodine from food and beverage has been low in large parts of the world. Depending on the level of insufficiency, this has been associated with disturbed reproduction, developmental brain damage, and a high occurrence of goitre ...

The link between thyroid hormone deficiency and optimal neurodevelopment in early childhood is well established. More recently, data from animal model experiments and epidemiological databases have indicated that perturbations in maternal and fetal thyroid hormone concentrations may affect fetal outcome and, in particular, have an adverse effect on neurodevelopmental outcome. Epidemiological evidence in human pregnancies has indicated that hypothyroxinaemia in the fetus in the...

Thyroid function hormone concentrations change during pregnancy. There is also a reduction in antibody titre and an increase in T helper-2 (Th2) immune responses. Thyroid antibodies (TPOAb) are associated with an increased risk of miscarriage but levothyroxine administration can reduce both miscarriage and premature delivery rates. Gestational hyperthyroidism may be due to hyperemesis gravidarum or Graves’ disease. Management of Graves’ hyperthyroidism is with antith...

The Thyroid Epidemiology and Audit Research Study (TEARS) involves electronic linkage of various clinical datasets to establish a comprehensive thyroid dataset (“TEARS database”). This includes linking a thyroid follow-up register, all regional biochemistry results, regional prescribing data, a radioactive iodine database, hospital admissions and the General Register of Deaths, all of which use a common patient identification number. Specific algorithms were used to ...