When I was in the 8th grade and honored at the “A” team honor roll breakfast, the speech was one that I never forgot: “Attitude is Everything.” Essentially, having a good education and good grades give you the tools to be successful, but having a great attitude toward any challenges ASSURES that you will arrive at that success.
Being a pediatrician AND an endocrinologist, I am blessed to work with many graceful children and their families who face medical endocrine challenges with great attitudes. I can recall numerous examples but will share one of my favorites: A now 11-year-old vibrant female with hashimotos thyroiditis who was diagnosed at 5 years old. Initially, she required frequent lab checks for medication adjustment (~5-6) which then decreased to ~2-3 annually thereafter for further medication dosing adjustments of synthroid replacement as she outgrew prior lower doses.
Her attitude towards her lab draws has always stuck with me because surprisingly she actually looked forward to them AND to her endo visits! She and her mother would always go out to eat and spend special quality time together whenever she had to have a lab draw. They would always choose Mexican food for these special outings, and in fact would limit all Mexican food intake, making it that much more special. Read more »
January is thyroid disease awareness month, and since an estimated 25 million people in the U.S. have various thyroid problems, I thought it would be a good idea to get an expert update on this often over-looked gland.
Victor Bernet, FACP, is Director of the National Capitol Consortium Endocrinology Fellowship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and the author of MKSAP 15′s chapter on disorders of the thyroid gland. I interviewed him about why thyroid disorders go undiagnosed, what alternative treatments are available, and how primary care physicians and specialists can work together to manage thyroid disease. Please listen to the audio of our conversation or check out the written summary below.
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January is thyroid disease awareness month, and I was invited to educate the good people at Let’s Talk Live about this often-forgotten little gland. For this segment, I used Twitter to poll my friends about interesting thyroid factoids. Thanks to Nick Genes@blogborygmi who reminded me of the connection between carpal tunnel syndrome and hypothyroidism and to Meredith Gould@meredithgould who mentioned that depression sometimes has a thyroid-related cause.
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