UK Thyroid Information

This page is getting long, click below to jump to the section of interest, or just have a read!

Nothing on this page should be taken as constituting medical advice, if you need medical advice contact a qualified doctor.

The web has much advice good and bad, and you must use your critical faculties on all the information you receive, even from your own doctors. My intention is to provide a concise list of UK related thyroid information on the worldwide web, the author can not control the content of sites linked to. I will only list sites I believe contain useful, and generally accurate information, however I will not exclude sites simply because some of the information is incorrect or out of date.

NHS Thyroid Information

Patient Advice

NHS information intended for patients is provided via NHS Direct's website, the complaint specific pages have a button to perform a search for more information on that complaint.

Clinical Knowledge Summaries

NHS Clinical Knowledge Summaries (formerly Prodigy) is intended to provide evidence based know-how about common conditions to doctors, to assist them during consultations.

NICE Guidance

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence have thyroid related guidance on a few topics of relevance to the management of thyroid disorders.

UK Thyroid Support Groups

Support group with full charitable status, and interest in research. Arranges many talks around the country.

Thyroid UK is a leading UK patient support group. One of the doctors advising the editors of Thyroid UK's newsletter, Dr Barry Peatfield, was involved in a controversy with the BMA, and some of his opinions are not accepted by his peers. However I feel this organisation, and Dr Peatfield, do a useful job in informing patients about alternative treatments, and in putting patients in contact with one another.

Web based discussion forum for those with thyroid problems in the UK and Ireland.

Books about the Thyroid

Below is a selection of books about thyroid problems. For the most part these books are written, or published in the UK. Where the author has written more than one relevant book the authors name will link to a search for books by that author. The links direct to AbeBooks.co.uk which can provide both new books, and books that are out of print. You may want to check that secondhand editions of books are the latest edition of that book.

Understanding Thyroid Disorders - Toft, Anthony

Understanding Thyroid Disorders is a British Medical Association guide for patients. It is well illustrated, accurate, but quite short. So it won't answer difficult questions, but if you just want a simple explanation of what a thyroid is, what it does, and how it might go wrong, this is the book for you. This book has also been translated into other languages, including German and Italian translations.

Anthony Toft is a consultant physician in the Endocrine Clinic at Edinburgh Royal Informary, and has published many and varied papers on thyroid disorders in peer-reviewed medical literature.

Coping with Thyroid Problems - Joan Gomez

Coping with Thyroid Problems (Overcoming coming common problems) covers both problems of Under and Over active thyroids, and is intended to give practical advice and reassurance to people with thyroid problems. Gomez's coverage of the topic is especially good on thyroid issues relating to pregnancy, babies, and children.

Dr Gomez has written a number of self help books covering diabetes, Crohn's disease, gallstones, Bulimia, Asperger syndrome, anaemia, and living a long life. She holds a Diploma in Psychiatry.

Thyroid Disease (The Facts) Vanderpump and Tunbridge

This book has just been released in its fourth edition. The fourth edition lists Mark Vanderpump as a co-author. Older editions list the recently deceased Sir Richard Bayliss, former physician to the Queen, and a very highly regarded doctor in his day.

Mark Vanderpump is a consultant physician at the Royal Free Hospital. Dr W Michael Tunbridge is a Director of Postgraduate Medical education at the John Radcliffe hospital, and is editor of several editions of this book.

Other UK thyroid resources

Simple, clear explanation of the mental health issues that can surround thyroid disorders. Site was supported by the MIND Millennium Award. A good site, but reads like an information leaflet rather than being particularly interactive.

Belongs in the UK section, by dint of Edna beavering away in the British Library to find everything that doctors have forgotten about treating thyroid disease.

This company offers good value private blood tests. If you are unhappy with the thyroid tests provided on the NHS this lab provides the best value for money the author has found. Or as my nurse said "That is less than my vet charges".

Other thyroid information, nothing to do with the UK, but too good to omit

Must be the best referenced Thyroid site on the Internet, what these guys don't know about thyroids, they add when you tell them about it! Best suited for doctors, as the material is heavy going. Some of the worlds leading thyroid consultants will answer your doctor's questions. This site contains excellent algorithmns covering common treatment regimes, using these as a reference will allow your GP's to avoid two common mistakes, undermedicating the hypothyroid (not reducing TSH below 2 when required), and over medicating Grave's disease patients (through over reliance on TSH testing) .

This site is good. Did I mention how much I like this site?

My TSH is 'normal' but I have all the symptoms of hypothyroidism - what next? - sorry we've heard this once too often. This site explains why the lab normal range for TSH should be reduced to "0.48 to 3.6". The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists recommends investigating any TSH score over 3, and my GP will investigate any score over 2, that is accompanied by clinical signs of hypothyroidism.

Quite simply the friendliest Grave's Support group on the web. Elaine Moore, author of "Grave's Disease, a practical guide" is a regular contributor. Many of the contributors share strong views on the use of radioactive Iodine ablation for treating Grave's disease, controversial as these views may be, I happen to agree with many of them.

The second friendliest Grave's Support group on the web. Regular chats at totally inappropriate times for the UK unless the insomnia is bad, and also 21:00 hours UK local time on Sunday evenings. A Java chat application that works on more than just MS Windows and Internet Explorer.

Where Simon Waters hangs out, let us not draw any conclusions from him hanging out at the second friendliest.

Sounds crazy, but this bacteria, from the Yersinia family (which include Yersinia Pestis, the bug behind the Black Death), has been fingered by some as a possible trigger for Grave's disease, and also Hashimoto's disease. Many viruses and bacteria have come under suspicion but this one keeps turning up.

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