AS/thyroid link?

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www.thyroid.org.au

is a really good site it goes into both hyper and hypo thyroid, and the blood tests to ask for.

Local anecdotes suggests a link between the mother having low thyroid levels and the child being ASD.

I was diagnosed with hypo after many years of fatique and it cured it but I still have aspergers. I dont think there is any significant correlation between the two. Lots of people have undiagnosed thyroid disorders.

Prevalence in The USA: 0.8%
1/5000 newborn infants

hypo under 18 : 2% (rare for those under 18 )
18-44: 34%
45-64: 40%
65+: 24%
male to female 1:8

A male under 18 with hypothyroism would be far rarer than ASD.

I dont understand your point. I said undiagnosed, do your numbers account for that?

Also, there are reasons that the age ratios are different. Males and the older population are more likely to be underdiagnosed, complain less and not be taken seriously. Younger people are less likely to be diagnosed because it is a disorder that starts and worsens with age. So, it seems like those numbers are meaningless when trying to determine a correlation between ASD and Hypothyroidism.

I'm only saying hypothyroidism is as rare as ASD. Meaning an aspie male under
17 has about (.008 x .111 x .02 x 100%)= 0.002 % chance of hypo .

So let say all 5546 user of WP are males under 18. That means (.00002 x 5546)=0
person having hypothroidism. I'm 36 so we can not count me. Juliekitty point
is if alot of people here have hypothyroidism it means something. The bulk
of hypothyroidism is from menopausal women. If alot of males under 18 have
hypothyroidism it means something.

Still, those stats don't account for undiagnosed (as you were) and for the errors involved in self reporting, self diagnosis and group sampled. Additionally, just because it is statistically rare doesn't mean it's statistically significant when it does happen. On the other hand, because of the errors of under-diagnosis and self reporting, there could be a much greater percentage of WP males under 18 who are actually hypothyroid but don't know it.

The bottom line is that these numbers are statistically meaningless. They can not tell us anything about the actual prevalence of thyroid disorders in ASD males under 18, nor the significance of any number found here.

Statistics are frequently quoted improperly to try to prove or disprove some idea, but unless all factors are taken into account to determine the reliability of those numbers and how they apply to the given question, they are meaningless.

Yeah I'm not trying to prove any science here I'm just trying to entertain juliekitty
(can you blame a guy).

Is any of you taking kelp for hypothyroid? I started taking kelp yesterday, because I want to see if something in my metabolism will change. If it does I may go to the docter's to have my thyroid checked.

I read that thyroid problems sometimes come down on iodine deficiency.

Low iodine in the diet maybe cause for a few. In the US our
salt has iodide added for that reason. I think other things
can effect it to. Low selenium(Se) levels. High lead (Pb)levels.
I just started taking 25 mcg levothyroxine yesturday.

Yes, we have iodine in the salt added too. That's what made me wondering about the iodine actually, because I like to eat salt since I was a little kid. I always thought it was some bad habit, because my parents and siblings eat a lot of salt in their food too. But what if we do that (unconsious) for the iodine? The only other thing I eat that contains iodine is eggs.

What is levothyroxine? (Edit: found the answer. I can get it through the docter only.)

Well I ordered my levothyroxine from India at very low cost and with no rx. But yes
its a drug if you need it you should get from a doctor.
Yeah I avoid added salt. I have high blood pressure. I use the "no-salt" potassium
chloride (with a weak acid for taste). I just checked and it does not contain iodine
In the past I ate alot of salt so I doubt low iodine is my key problem.

Starling...

Machine is correct(IMO) about low selenium effecting bodies ability to use our own thyroid hormones
and taking a supliment has been reported helpful for some(whose diets are low in selenium)and its not very expensive....very few people who eat "processed foods" are low in iodine because salt is major ingredient....but somepeople believe kelp is helpful anyway....dont know much about it..I am illogically paranoid about eating things from the ocean that are harvested close to shore because I think they are filled with "toxins" from human pollution(sorry, cant be logical about it...I keep invissioning countries with even fewer environmental rules dumping heavy metal waste into nearest body of water....and you never know where the kelp was harvested)

There are also two other things which I found out can effect the thyroid function...

Nonfermented soy products....which are an additive in several products

Fluoride added to some local water and in toothpaste(fluoride has been used to slow down over active thyroid...so it does have an effect, but there is a raging debate on how much it takes to have an effect....you are only supposed to use a pea size amount ot toothpaste but commercials show about a one inch spread across the brush!not everyone rinses well after so some is swollowed and some people believe that it is absorbed through the gums and lining of mouth, but this doesnt sound logical...Im no scientist,so...)There is a ton of info oon the net about fluorides that is very interesting but not very good for "paranoid,conspiricy minded people ,such as my self... )So I would suggest you do your own research about this online...

I would also reccomend (again),the Thyroid Disease Chat Center(google it)They were very helpful for me and have forumes you can ask questions about your issues and concerns and find out the best tests to take....

I really dont reccomend self treating...hormones are very dangerouse and the wrong dose can have severe effects on the body and mind...To much can cause as many problems as to little and it takes many months to get the right balance and effect during dose changes because the TSH interacts with other hormones in the body...

Iodine deficiency hypothyroidism occurs mostly in devveloping countries or in desperate poverty. Iodine is also stored in the glad over your lifetime. Only a small amount is required to sustain your entire life. More common hypothyroidism is Hashimotos disease where other factors cause the gland to burn out (like too much iodine or autoimune disease). Thats why you really need to see a doctor to DX.

You should not try to treat it yourself! Taking natural suppliments or buying T4 (thyroid hormone) on the black market is dangerous because too much of the hormone causes osteoporosis and other health issues. You might also be overlooking some other health problem your symptoms might be from. It is best to ask a doctor to check your TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) and Free T4 (actual hormone in your body).

Thyroid problems are very common in humans and cats. It's not an AS thing.

How does the rate go down to 24% after age 65? Are there spontaneous cures at 65, or does that percentage just not count the ones who dropped dead?

Those numbers look very high to me - prevalence of hypothyroidism over the population as a whole may be about five percent - but it does tend to become more frequent in elderly people.

In any event, there's bound to be _some_ overlap between AS and hypothyroidism. I read mentions of a possible correlation without any further explanation, and have heard of a few people who have both (if I indeed am AS, that would make me one, as I have hypothyroidism). But hypothyroidism does seem to be more common in women. I am uncommon, as being male and diagnosed with hypothyroidism at 26.