Summary
Thyroid conditions are common and can affect people of all ages from babies to the elderly. They can be caused by a range of underlying conditions. Your doctor will usually start by requesting a TSH test. This measures the amount of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) in your blood. TSH is the hormone that stimulates your thyroid gland to make thyroid hormone. This is the only thyroid test covered by Medicare if you do not have a history of thyroid problems. Depending on your symptoms and your TSH result, you may need further testing of your thyroid hormones with measurement of FreeT4 and Free T3. If your doctor thinks you could have an autoimmune condition that is affecting your thyroid gland you may go on to have thyroid antibody tests. There are also tests that are used to monitor thyroid cancer following treatment. They include thyroglobulin and calcitonin tests which are used to detect and monitor some rare forms of thyroid cancer.
Why get tested?
Your thyroid is a small gland at the base of your throat. It uses iodine from your diet to make hormones that regulate many of your body’s metabolic processes – your body’s processes for breaking down food and converting it into energy. How your thyroid is working affects how fast you burn calories, your heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature.
There are two main hormones produced by the thyroid. These are T4 and T3. They circulate in your blood, and it is important that levels stay constant to keep your metabolism running and in balance.
There is a feedback mechanism to make sure they don’t get too high or too low.
Thyroid function tests
If you have symptoms that suggest you have a thyroid problem your doctor will start by ordering:
If the results of this are too high or low, a free T4 and/or free T3 test will be ordered.
Often the laboratory performing your testing will automatically go on to perform a free T4 test or free T3 test on your original blood sample.
Autoimmune conditions
Autoimmune conditions occur when your immune system, designed to defend you, mistakenly makes antibodies that attack healthy tissue.
Thyroid antibodies – also called autoantibodies – are antibodies that a person’s immune system makes that mistakenly targets the thyroid gland or thyroid proteins. This leads to chronic inflammation of the thyroid, tissue damage, and/or disruption of thyroid function.
There are two main autoimmune conditions that affect the thyroid gland:
Tests for autoimmune conditions
Further tests may need to be performed if your doctor suspects that you have an underlying autoimmune condition – you have an enlarged thyroid or symptoms suggesting thyroid dysfunction. In this case you may need to have antibody tests.
Some of the antibody tests used are:
Often the laboratory performing your testing will automatically go on to perform a free T4 test or free T3 test on your original blood sample.
A ‘free’ T4 or T3 test refers to the fact that the type of hormone being tested is the part which is circulating freely and available to be absorbed by body tissues.
Thyroid antibody | Present in | When ordered | Other facts |
Thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO Ab) | Hashimoto's thyroiditis & Graves' disease | When someone has symptoms suggesting thyroid disorder; when a doctor is considering starting a patient on a drug therapy that may cause thyroid dysfunction when these antibodies are present (eg, lithium, amiodarone, interferon alpha or interleukin - 2). | Has been associated with reproductive difficulties, such as miscarriage, pre-eclampsia, premature deliver, and in-vitro fertilisation failure. |
Thyroglobin antibody (TG Ab) | Hashimoto's thyroiditis; in some patients being monitored for thyroid cancer | Whenever a thyroglobulin test is performed to see if the antibody is present and likely to be interfering with the test results; at regular intervals after thyroid cancer treatment; when symptoms of hypothyroidism are present. | Not sensitive as TPO antibodies in diagnosing autoimmune thyroid disorder. |
Having the test
Blood
Any preparation?
None
Your results
Reading your test report
In general, the presence of thyroid antibodies suggests that there is autoimmune thyroid involvement and the higher the level of antibodies in the blood sample, the more likely this is the case.
Rising levels may be more significant than stable levels as they indicate an increase in autoimmune activity. All of these antibodies, if present in a pregnant woman, can increase the risk of hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism in the developing baby or newborn.
A certain percentage of people who are healthy may be positive for one or more thyroid antibodies. The prevalence tends to be higher in women and tends to increase with age. If a person with no apparent thyroid dysfunction has a measurable thyroid antibody, their doctor will track their health over time. While most of these people may never experience thyroid dysfunction, a few may develop it in the future.
Thyroid antibody tests – what results may indicate | |
Test results | Indication
|
No thyroid antibodies detected | Autoantibodies are not present in the blood at the time of testing and may indicate that symptoms are due to a cause other than autoimmune thyroid disorder. However, a small group of people with autoimmune thyroid disorder do not have detectable thyroid autoantibodies. |
Mild to moderately high levels of thyroid antibodies | Could be a variety of thyroid and autoimmune disorders, Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, pernicious anaemia, and autoimmune collagen vascular disorders, as well as thyroid cancer. |
Significantly high concentrations | Usually indicates a thyroid autoimmune disorder such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis or Graves’ disease. |
Table 2.
Questions to ask your doctor
The choice of tests your doctor makes will be based on your medical history and symptoms. It is important that you tell themeverything you think might help.
You play a central role in making sure your test results are accurate. Do everything you can to make sure the information you provide is correct and follow instructions closely.
Talk to your doctor about any medications you are taking. Find out if you need to fast or stop any particular foods or supplements. These may affect your results. Ask:
Any more to know?
If TGAb are present when monitoring thyroglobulin levels in someone who has been treated for thyroid cancer, the antibodies may interfere with the thyroglobulin test result. This may mean that the doctor will not be able to use thyroglobulin as a tumour marker for thyroid cancer.
More information
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