New Breakthroughs and Discoveries in Thyroid Medication

Being diagnosed with a thyroid disorder can be a profoundly life-changing experience. For many newly-diagnosed patients, learning that most thyroid disorders are incurable and require life-long treatment can be daunting and depressing.

But recent advances in thyroid treatments make it possible for most people with thyroid disorders to enjoy full health and quality of life. Today’s sophisticated thyroid medications are precisely calibrated to target even minute variations in thyroid function and compensate for any surpluses or deficiencies in the body’s supplies of thyroid hormones.

There’s just one catch – because even small changes in thyroid function can cause major health problems, patients with thyroid disorders have to adhere very closely to their prescribed regimen of medication. Not only do you have to follow your doctor’s dosage and schedule instructions to the letter, but you also have to be on the lookout for other problems, such as potential reactions with other medications and short- and long-term supply issues.

Thyroid Medication and the Patients' Responsibility

Being a model thyroid patient also entails staying on top of new and emerging treatments for thyroid disorders. By keeping in close contact with your physician, you will increase the two-way communication which will help you to learn more about new treatment plans. This week, we’ll take a look at a few recent studies and reports that have offered up the latest news on thyroid medications.

Generic Version of Popular Hypothyroidism Medication Now Widely Available

Some patients who have been prescribed the popular hypothyroidism drug Synthroid have complained about the high costs involved with an ongoing, permanent drug regimen. The leading thyroid drug, manufactured by pharmaceutical Abbott Laboratories, can be costly, particularly for patients without medical insurance.

Although up-and-coming pharmaceutical manufacturer Mylan received FDA approval for its generic version of Synthroid in 2004, the company has encountered resistance in making the generic drug available to consumers. In addition to standard procedural delays, many state-level court cases had to be filed before the drug was admitted to approved drug lists across the country.

However, with news of a recent approval in state court in Florida, it appears that the tide may be turning for Mylan’s generic formulation. Only a few pending cases are left to be decided, and company representatives are confident that consumers across the United States will soon have full access to the drug.

Frequently-Prescribed Antibiotic May Interfere with Thyroid Medication

Among short-term drug regimens, antibiotics rank among the most frequently prescribed medications, and among antibiotics, the drug ciprofloxacin is many physicians’ first choice in the treatment of common ailments such as urinary tract infections and sexually transmitted diseases.

However, according to a recent bulletin published in the British Medical Journal, ciprofloxacin – which is commonly sold under the names Cipro, Ciproxin, Ciflox, and Ciprobay – may interfere with the thyroid-regulating action of levothyroxine, the most popular pharmaceutical treatment for hypothyroidism.

The study described the experience of one young woman with hypothyroidism who was prescribed the antibiotic ciprofloxacin. Within a period of a month, her thyroid hormone levels began fluctuating significantly, and her longstanding dosage of levothyroxine appeared to be inadequate to control her TSH levels.

Although the scientists who published the study did not offer a definitive conclusion, they hypothesized that something in the interaction between levothyroxine and ciprofloxacin may limit the body’s ability to absorb the levothyroxine properly. This, in turn, limits the ability of the drug to regulate thyroid hormone levels as intended. Patients with hypothyroidism should alert their physicians to the possibility of a negative drug interaction when being prescribed antibiotics, or any other type of medication.

Current Medication Protocol for Post-Op Thyroid Treatment Redundant, Study Shows

For some patients with thyroid cancer or advanced-stage thyroid disorders, surgical removal of the thyroid gland represents the best chance for restored health. However, because the thyroid gland plays such an important role in regulating the endocrine system and the body’s production and distribution of hormones, patients whose thyroid glands have been removed have to take thyroid hormone replacement drugs to compensate for the removed gland.

The longstanding protocol for patients whose thyroids have been removed is a combination of T3 and T4 hormones. Doctors surmised that because the thyroid gland is responsible for producing both of these hormones, patients without a thyroid gland would need to have both hormones artificially replaced.

However, the results of a recent study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University’s thyroid clinic found that even after thyroid gland removal, T3 levels often seem to regulate themselves without artificial replacement. In all but a few of the patients studied, post-surgery T3 levels remained stable. In only a few cases was a combination therapy that combined both T3 and T4 hormone replacement truly necessary.

If you’re concerned about finding the right thyroid medication regimen and sticking to it, consult with your doctor for the best insight into your unique health situation. Please check back each week for more of the breaking thyroid news you need!