Thyroid disease & pregnancy Seven's On Call By Dr. Jay Adlersberg (New York-WABC, December 21, 2006) - Thyroid problems during pregnancy are often picked up by alert doctors with simple blood tests. When thyroid trouble is not discovered, the results can be premature births, miscarriage and low IQ babies. One local doctor says there's a way to prevent pregnancy trouble due to thyroid disease.
Seven's On Call. Mercedes Decynski has two very cute sons, 3-month-old Adam and 19-month-old Brad. She had two healthy pregnancies with the boys, despite having an underactive thyroid. It's called hypothyroidism, and these thyroid replacement pills got her back to normal. "In my first trimester, my hormone levels were increased," Decynsk said. "Then I stayed at that same level throughout my pregnancy." It's something hormone specialists know, that hypothyroid women need more hormone during pregnancy. Not treating thyroid problems correctly can lead to premature deliveries, miscarriages and lower IQ levels in the child. Dr. Alex Stagnaro-Green, of University Hospital, New Jersey Medical School, did a study 15 years ago showing that an antibody test might predict who would have trouble. "Twenty percent of the women have thyroid antibodies, but perfectly normal thyroid function," Dr. Stagnaro-Green said. "Just by having those antibodies, their risk of miscarriage doubles." Premature births go up as well. The test is as simple as taking a tube of blood. Right now, tests done in women at the beginning of pregnancy do not include mandatory thyroid testing. By testing for these antibodies and treating the 20 percent of patients who had them with thyroid hormone, researchers found in a study just this year that they could reduce preemie births and miscarriages to normal. Until testing becomes routine ... "A woman should have her thyroid function checked if she had a family history of thyroid disease, symptoms of an underactive thyroid, or a history of preterm delivery or miscarriage," Stagnaro-Green said. If researchers can repeat the results of the 2006 study showing that treatment for women at risk for thyroid problems improves their outcomes, screening for thyroid problems could become a mandatory part of pregnancy testing. (Copyright 2006 WABC-TV) http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=health&id=4871886
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