Hypothyroidism: more than just labs

Re: “Stress -- a Thyroid Enemy” [Sept. 24]: As someone who has wrestled with autoimmune hypothyroidism for nearly three decades, I greatly enjoyed Mary Beckman’s contribution to thyroid awareness. While apart from weight gain she does not mention any of the symptoms of hypothyroidism (such as hair loss, swelling, chronic fatigue, depression), she has nonetheless managed to underscore the greatest failing in current medical practice in diagnosing and treating hypothyroidism: doctors’ near-exclusive reliance on laboratory tests and nearly total avoidance of seeing a patient’s symptoms as indicators of the disease.

Edward S. Reisman

Santa Monica