Thyroid disorders are one of the most common Endocrine disorder and most of them have vey non specific symptoms. That is the reason why thyroid function test are widely ordered by all the medical and perhaps surgical specialties too. Even though thyroid function test are ordered so frequently, they are sometimes misinterpreted and they can be confusing too. In this article I would like to discuss thyroid function test, mainly their clinical significance.
Let us start with the basic physiology so that we can understand why we are ordering what we are ordering!! The most important controlling factors in thyroid hormone synthesis are iodine availability and TSH. Inadequate amounts of iodine lead to inadequate thyroid hormone production, increased TSH secretion and thyroid stimulation, and goiter in an attempt to compensate. The synthesis of thyroid hormone involves binding of iodine to…
