What Causes Hypothyroidism?

Posted on Tue, 18 Mar 2014

Question: Hello, I've been feeling tired and slow lately so I asked my mom should I go to the doctor? she said about 10 years ago she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and she thought a few people on my dads side of the family might have that too. I did a little research on WWW.WWWW.WW and a few other website to find the symptoms of it. From what I was reading I have 5-6 of the symptoms including, Slow body movements, Feeling tired, problems concentrating, Inability to tolerate cold, and a few others. So I went to the doctor and got an order to have my blood drawn but the test came back in the normal range. is there still a chance I could have hypothyroidism?

Answered by Dr. Shehzad Topiwala (3 hours later)

Brief Answer: Extremely unlikely Detailed Answer: The most common type of hypothyroidism in the world is Primary hypothyroidism meaning the thyroid gland does not make enough thyroid hormone and therefore the blood test for TSH is higher than normal whilst the blood levels of T3 and T4 are either below normal or in the low normal range. This lab picture accurately detects the vast majority of individuals who have the most common type of hypothyroidism. However, there is a fairly uncommon condition called Secondary Hypothyroidism in which the TSH may appear normal or low , along with low normal or low T3 and T4. This may appear normal to the non-expert and hence due caution is necessary in diagnosing this correctly as it has serious associations and consequences. That being said, it is quite uncommon. An in person thorough assessment by an endocrinologist helps rule this possibility out.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar