Pay more attention to thyroid disorders

Thyroid issues hide in plain sight and its persisting prevalence in the country warrants urgent attention of our healthcare system. Thyroid diseases affect around 50 million people in Bangladesh and is considered "as serious as diabetes," according to the Association of Clinical Endocrinologist and Diabetologist of Bangladesh (ACEDB). Despite its prevalence, experts have revealed that most patients go undiagnosed. They have urged the government to introduce mandatory screening nationwide for every newborn and also stressed that testing before pregnancy is a must-do. We hope the authorities will acknowledge the importance of tackling the issue and implement an effective system for diagnosis.

We must note that measures should specifically take into account that thyroid problems, which arise from hormonal imbalances, disproportionately affect women, who are five to eight times more likely to have a thyroid problem than men. The symptoms – fatigue, depression, weight gain, etc – mirror daily life stressors and go ignored especially when voiced by women due to the entrenched stigma surrounding women's health. Patients also rarely seek medical attention as symptoms develop gradually and are quite non-specific. Therefore, more screening for thyroid diseases would seem appropriate, yet that is not the case.

The effect of thyroid disorders at different stages of women's lives are far-reaching. For younger women, the issues can cause puberty and menstruation to occur abnormally late or early. During reproductive stages, low levels of thyroid hormone can impair fertility and in future may result in the early onset of menopause. Women silently endure the paralysing impact of thyroid diseases bereft of a proper infrastructure mandating their diagnosis. Experts have previously said that thyroid hormone testing should be included in routine examinations offered to women. We implore officials to start devoting special attention to diagnosing women and treating thyroid disorders as a women's health issue too.

When introducing mandatory screening, the rural and urban divide in access to healthcare must also be addressed. Facilities in rural areas suffer from poor amenities and insufficient funding. Left undiagnosed, thyroid can significantly erode a person's quality of life. The authorities must ensure that screening tests for thyroid disorders are offered at primary healthcare facilities to equally treat and diagnose everyone suffering from this invisible illness.