Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Absorption of levothyroxine is significantly reduced in the presence of oral iron if these two medications are ingested simultaneously, possible as a result of the formation of an insoluble complex with these 2 medications. Ideally all hypothyroid pregnant women on thyroid replacement therapy should be advised to avoid simultaneous ingestion of levothyroxine and iron containing medicines.Patients and methods: We conducted a retrospective obse...

Background: Thyroid hormone is essential in foetal neurological development and thyroid hormone deficiency in pregnant women has been linked to lower intelligence quotient and underperformance in their children later in life. Thyroid hormone requirement increases during pregnancy by approximately 50% in the first trimester. We audited our practice of increasing thyroid hormone dose at booking and thereafter in pregnant women attending our combined obstetric medical clinic....