The diagnosis of hyperthyroidism depends not only on typical clinical manifestations and signs, but also on thyroid function.
Thyroid function test report
Thyroid function mainly includes the following 5 indicators:
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FT3, free triiodothyronine: is the active form of free thyroid hormone in blood;
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FT4, free tetraiodothyronine: is a free thyroid hormone in blood;
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TSH, Serum Thyrotropin: A hormone released by pituitary gland to stimulate thyroid gland to secrete thyroid hormone;
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TPOAb, thyroid peroxidase antibody: is a kind of thyroid autoimmune antibody;
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TGAb, Thyroglobulin Antibody: It is a kind of thyroid autoimmune antibody.
Among them, the characteristics of hyperthyroidism’s laboratory tests are: FT3 and FT4 are increased and TSH is decreased. However, it should be noted that [thyroiditis] may also have the same laboratory tests as hyperthyroidism, which need to be examined and identified separately.
The thyroid autoimmune antibody in Item 4 and Item 5 is an indicator of [Hashimoto’s disease] or [autoimmune thyroid disease], which is often referred to as [thyroid antibody] by patients for short.
In addition, TT3 (serum total triiodothyronine) and TT4 (serum total thyroxine) will be monitored according to the patient’s condition to assist in diagnosis.
Does TSH anomaly mean what?
1. TSH is low, T3 and FT4 are normal. What’s going on?
FT3 and FT4 are normal and TSH is low, which belongs to subclinical hyperthyroidism. Subclinical hyperthyroidism may develop into clinical hyperthyroidism.
2. TSH is high, FT3 and FT4 are normal, what’s going on?
FT3 and FT4 are normal and TSH is high, which belongs to subclinical hypothyroidism. Subclinical hypothyroidism may progress to clinical hypothyroidism.
3. Do subclinical hyperthyroidism/hypothyroidism need treatment?
Most people do not need treatment and can regularly review the thyroid function in order to find out the progress of the disease in time. However, a few patients with subclinical hyperthyroidism or subclinical hypothyroidism can have some symptoms of hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism and should be treated. In addition, if the TSH value exceeds 10 mIU/L, even if FT3 and FT4 are normal, they should also be treated.
Finally, it is specially emphasized that if it is subclinical hypothyroidism during pregnancy, the treatment needs to be more active. The specific situation still needs to be analyzed and decided by specialists.
[Thyroid antibody] high, how to return a responsibility?
There are two antibody indexes in thyroid function test: TPOAb and TGAb. Patients often call these two antibodies [thyroid antibody], which are thyroid autoimmune antibodies.
Studies have shown that the increase of these antibodies is related to the occurrence of thyroid diseases, but the high [thyroid antibody] does not necessarily lead to abnormal thyroid function.
It can be simply said that the high [thyroid antibody] makes your thyroid function more likely to have problems.
Of course, if you have already diagnosed hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism and the above-mentioned results of thyroidism occur during drug therapy, you should judge whether the dosage or treatment plan should be adjusted according to your previous thyroidism status.