What Exactly Are They Teaching in Medical School?
In the May/June 1997 issue of Health magazine, there's a familiar but frightening story. The article by Barbara Bailey Kelley described a woman who had constant fatigue, constipation, constantly feeling cold and difficulty swallowing. According to the article, this group of symptoms had the woman "hopping from doctor to doctor. None could identify a medical problem." Three years after her symptoms appeared, the woman was checked into a hospital, where a coterie of specialists -- an allergist, heart specialist and psychiatrist -- examined her. The psychiatrist wondered if she was suffering from depression. After a battery of tests which, WHEW, finally included a thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) test, they FINALLY discovered that she was very hypothyroid, in fact, her thyroid had almost shut down completely.
Okay, calling Dr. Kildare! Marcus Welby! Where are the doctors who recognize thyroid disease's symptoms quickly?
On an chat a while back, a group of us were speculating what would happen if a woman with a basketball-sized goiter walked into the ER. We decided she'd be told she was stressed out, and sent home with a prescription for Prozac, AND a big fat bill from the emergency room (that her insurance company would probably deny!!!) Now how about that storyline for dramatic tension?
In any case, doesn't it seem like anyone who's spent more than five minutes reading anything about thyroid disease would have a problem recognizing the familiar litany of symptoms the poor woman in the article described? In fact, I sometimes have to watch about becoming too evangelical myself when friends say, "you know, I've been feeling a bit tired and run-down lately, and..."
"COULD BE YOUR THYROID!!!" I announce.
So every year, thousands of women go into their doctors and say, "I'm tired, I'm gaining weight, my skin's dry, my hands and feet are cold, I'm dragging myself around, and..."
"COULD BE YOU'RE DEPRESSED (or STRESSED or PRE-MENSTRUAL or MENOPAUSAL)!!!" the doctor announces.
PUHLEEEEASE??? Don't get me wrong. I love some doctors. I love my doctor, who's an MD/acupuncturist in an general practice. But even my doctors took awhile to diagnose my tiredness, dragging around, inability to lose weight, and so on and so on. But I only went a few months without a diagnosis. How many people go years, or maybe forever, without a simple diagnosis and treatment? AND WHY?
I've got to believe that they spend at least a few minutes on the mighty thyroid at med school. And between medical organizations and awareness campaigns, there are many efforts underway to make the public aware of thyroid disease. So why is it that doctors are sometimes so easily stumped when presented with a list of symptoms that seem to SCREAM thyroid disease?
