Karen’s Pearl’s of Wisdom: Menopause & Thyroid Disease

By: Red Hot Mamas

Published: November 2, 2014

Dear Red Hot Mamas,
I am currently attending the 84th Annual Meeting of The American Thyroid Association in San Diego, CA. This organization has over 1700 members from 43 countries around the world.  Their website is www.thyroid.org. This organization is devoted to thyroid biology and to the prevention and treatment of thyroid disease through research, clinical care, education and public health, the president of this organization is Dr. Hossein Gharib from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
The opening session was held on Oct 29, 2014 and Dr. Peter Kopp, Dr. Douglas Ross and Dr. Herbert Chen presented Recent Developments and Future Challenges in Thyroidolgy giving clinical endocrine review, as well as surgical review.
Oral abstracts and poster sessions, as well as Plenary Sessions and Meet the Professor Workshops will continue through Saturday, November 1.  The guidelines for the treatment of hypothyroidism (2014) and the Abstracts for ATARI can be found on www.thyroid.org.

As you all know, I am the founder of Red Hot Mamas.  I am particularly interest in information about thyroid and menopause as it oftentimes is confusing to distinguish between menopausal symptoms and thyroid disease.  That is why so many women suffer from undiagnosed thyroid disease.  Many women complain of sleep disturbances, fatigue, mood swings, depression and believe that these symptoms are just due to menopause.  However, these symptoms may also be caused by a thyroid condition.  So, as a patient advocate, I urge you to have your thyroid checked which is a simple blood test known as TSH. If your doctor determines that your symptoms are related to a thyroid condition, it may easily be treated.

I suggest you log onto www.thyroid.org for more information.  They have patient brochures on thyroid diseases, frequently asked questions, links to ATAs patient education alliances and medical literature articles.

Also, our organization (Red Hot Mamas), has partnered with The Endocrine Society’s Hormone Health Network.  Please log onto their website, www.hormone.org.  They provide a lot of information about your hormones and your health, disease conditions such as thyroid, as well as www.menopausemap.com which I helped create for them.

In closing, menopausal women don’t account for a small number of women.  In fact there are over 50 million of us in the US alone.  It is imperative we understand the symptoms of thyroid disease at menopause!

Good Health,

Karen