Calgary, June 6 -- : According to new research conducted in Canada, the current practice of testing most pregnant women for thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) may be leading to overdiagnosis and overtreatment
The research was published in the CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
The study of more than 188 000 women in Alberta found that TSH testing was performed in more than half (111 522 or 59 per cent) of all pregnant women who did not have thyroid disease before pregnancy. Testing was most commonly done around gestational week 5-6.
"The practice of TSH testing early in the first trimester may be resulting in overdiagnosis and unnecessary thyroid hormone therapy during and after pregnancy," writes Dr. Lois Donovan, an endocrinol...