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Thyroid function tests (TFTs) is a collective term for blood tests used to check the function of the thyroid. [1] TFTs may be requested if a patient is thought to suffer from hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) or hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), or to monitor the effectiveness of either thyroid-suppression or hormone replacement therapy.
Thyroid-stimulating hormone (also known as thyrotropin, thyrotropic hormone, or abbreviated TSH) is a pituitary hormone that stimulates the thyroid gland to produce thyroxine (T 4), and then triiodothyronine (T 3) which stimulates the metabolism of almost every tissue in the body. [1]
The TSH, in turn, stimulates the thyroid to produce thyroid hormone until levels in the blood return to normal. Thyroid hormone exerts negative feedback control over the hypothalamus as well as anterior pituitary, thus controlling the release of both TRH from hypothalamus and TSH from anterior pituitary gland.
Jostel's TSH index (TSHI or JTI), also referred to as Jostel's thyrotropin index or Thyroid Function index (TFI), is a method for estimating the thyrotropic (i.e. thyroid stimulating) function of the anterior pituitary lobe in a quantitative way.
Time of day can affect the results of this test; TSH peaks early in the morning and slumps in the late afternoon to early evening, [65] with "a variation in TSH by a mean of between 0.95 mIU/mL to 2.0 mIU/mL". [66] Hypothyroidism is diagnosed more often in samples taken soon after waking. [67]
Desiccated thyroid preparations have a greater variability from batch to batch than synthetic ones. [9] Desiccated thyroid has roughly a 4:1 ratio of thyroxine (T4) to triiodothyronine (T3). In humans, the ratio is 11:1. [10] A combination of various ratios of T4 and T3 might not provide benefits over T4 alone.
Normalization of TSH does not mean that other abnormalities associated with hypothyroidism improve entirely, such as elevated cholesterol levels. [64] In people with central/secondary hypothyroidism, TSH is not a reliable marker of hormone replacement and decisions are based mainly on the free T 4 level.
TSH is a hormone made by the pituitary gland in the brain that tells the thyroid gland how much hormone to make. When there is too much thyroid hormone, the TSH will be low. A radioactive iodine uptake test and thyroid scan together characterizes or enables radiologists and doctors to determine the cause of hyperthyroidism.