Something More to Ponder Before Taking RAI

After radioiodine therapy, becoming hypothyroid is the next stage, the percentage of cases reaching 100% in the medium term. Many irradiated people very well know how difficult it is for doctors to determine the correct dose of thyroid hormone replacement. They've gone through unnecessary suffering for years. If you want to get pregnant, being hypothyroid will make it more difficult. Here you have yet more data to ponder before undertaking RAI:

Thyroid Problem Linked to Greater Miscarriage Risk

LONDON (Reuters) - Screening women for thyroid problems should be part of routine prenatal testing because it could help to reduce miscarriages, American doctors said on Wednesday.

New research by scientists at the Foundation for Blood Research in Scarborough, Maine, showed that pregnant women with hypothyroidism, or an underactive thyroid, have four times the risk of miscarriage in the second three months of pregnancy than other women.

``This is the first time the link with miscarriage has been established in a population study,'' Dr James Haddow, said in a telephone interview.

The thyroid is a gland in the neck that regulates heart rate, metabolism, growth, cognitive function, energy and mood. About two percent of pregnant women suffer from hypothyroidism which can be detected with a simple blood test.

The most common cause of the disorder, which can be treated with drugs to replace the hormone the body is not making, is auto-immunity -- when a woman makes antibodies against her own thyroid.

Pregnant women with the condition suffer from high blood pressure and are more likely to have complications and miscarriages. If the condition is untreated, it can lead to heart disease, osteoporosis, infertility and impaired IQ in offspring.

``Trying to routinely identify thyroid deficiency as early as possible would be worthwhile,'' Haddow said, adding that treatment is simple, inexpensive and safe.

In a report in the Journal of Medical Screening, Allan and his colleagues said a study of 9,000 pregnant women in Maine showed that expectant mothers with elevated levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), which indicates a thyroid deficiency, had a 3.8 percent risk of late miscarriage.

Pregnant women without the problem had a 0.9 percent miscarriage risk. In the study, six out of every 100 late miscarriages could be attributed to the woman's thyroid problem. The risk of miscarriage increased as TSH levels rose.

``Because little is known about the cause of late miscarriages, our findings offer a new opportunity to possibly prevent some of these,'' Dr C.W. Allan.

``Further research may show that early detection and treatment for maternal hypothyroidism is the key to preventing these miscarriages,'' he said.

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