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Hypothyroidism can be easily missed if it's lurking behind an array of symptoms. But it should never be ruled out as it's easy to test for and easy to treat. A case study published in The Lancet has a message about an easily missed condition: hypothyroidism. A doctor decided to go for a check up - unusual since doctors don't often front up for their own health. The only thing he'd noticed was that he'd lost quite a lot of hair. He turned out to have high blood pressure, a raised cholesterol and signs that his kidney (he'd only been born with one kidney) wasn't working well. His electrocardiogram showed a heart under stress. So the doctor looking after the doctor labelled him as having a genetic abnormality of blood fats, an underperforming kidney and coronary heart disease. Then some bright spark thought the hair loss and abnormal blood tests could mean something else. So the man's thyroid function was checked and found to be low. He was put on thyroid hormone replacement and after a few weeks, his ECG was back to normal, as was his blood pressure and most of his blood tests. Even his hair was beginning to grow back. Hypothyoidism is easy to test for and easy to treat, so it's more than a shame when it's missed.
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