Subclinical Hypothyroidism

Treatment with thyroid replacement (T4) reduced the risk of all-cause mortality and heart disease, the latter by 39%, in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism, a condition that many doctors have refused to treat. A British study reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine has laid to rest a long-standing controversy on whether this condition should be treated. Millions of patients who have symptoms of low thyroid but whose blood tests are in the normal range need to be treated. T4 has to be converted into T3 to be active, and not everyone makes this conversion efficiently. Therefore, I prefer a T4/T3 combination treatment, which occurs in natural thyroid preparations. See Family Practice News, May 1, 2012, p. 22.