Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The aim of study was to determine the effectiveness of Thyroid detoxification program therapy in patients of hypothyroidism, attending TATC clinic in Maharashtra. According to the clinical survey from various studies on thyroid disease, it has been estimated that about 32% of people suffer from thyroid diseases in India out of which 10.7 % of people have hypothyroidism. According to health experts, even though hypothyroidism is easy to detect and inexpensive to treat, many patients remain undetected and untreated, thereby impairing their work performance and economic productivity. Common symptoms of hypothyroidism, fatigue, weight gain, constipation, dry skin, hoarseness and anemia (usually normochromic and normocytic but occasionally macrocytic). Levothyroxine, synthetic T4 hormone has always been considered as the mainstay of treatment in hypothyroidism. However even after normalization of TSH and T4 levels after LT4 treatment, many patients have persistent complaints. Thus there is an emerging need of an alternative therapy aiming at managing thyroid imbalance along with improvement in clinical symptoms.

Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted from June 21 to April 22, wherein we identified the data of 32 female patients suffering from hypothyroidism who had attended the outpatient departments of TATC clinics across Maharashtra. The data of patients, who had been administered with min of 2 detox procedures and oral Ayurvedic medication over a span of 16 weeks, considered for the study.

Results: Medical records of 32 patients were analyzed. At the end of the therapy, there was reduction in symptoms of hypothyroidism like palpitations, mood swings, fatigue, dry skin, joint pain, muscle crampsstiffness, indigestion, depression, anxiety. The alleviation of symptoms started in average one month from the commencement of treatment and patients were asymptomatic at the end of 16 weeks. There was reduction in standard of care thyroxine hormone for 100% subjects in four months. Average baseline levels of TSH in patients was found to be 9.49 uIU/ml. After two months of treatment, it was found that the TSH levels reduced significantly to 5.77 uIU/ml. The average duration required by the patients to reduce the dose was four months. Slight increase in TSH levels observed in further visits but it was not significant. Thus it indicates that intended therapy not only has a potential effect in maintaining normal thyroid hormone levels but it also treats root cause of thyroid imbalance which is evident by the reduced dose of medication and improved quality of life of patients.