Doctor Interview
| An interview with Dr Nihal Thomas on "The Need of Multiple Strengths of Levothyroxine in the Management of Hypothyroidism" | |
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Dr Nihal Thomas is currently Reader in Endocrinology at CMC, Vellore and is in charge of Diabetology Section. After having completed MBBS, MD and MNAMS (Endo) at Christian Medical College, Vellore, Dr Thomas has done FRACP (Endo) at Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia. Dr Nihal Thomas was invited Faculty Member of Scientific Committee for the International Conference in Endocrine Disorders in 2001 and was awarded International Young Investigator Award in Clinical Epidemiology in 2003. He is involved in several research projects and multicentric trials at present. He also runs the Diabetes Educator training programme for Peripheral hospitals. His key areas of academic interest are Pituitary Disease, Osteoporosis, Clinical trials in Diabetes Mellitus, and Macroencapsulation techniques in insulin cell line transplantation. |
Dr Thomas has to his credit more than 30 indexed papers published in different national and international journals and review articles and one book on Pituitary disease.
Dr Nihal Thomas brings you the answers to the following questions on "The Need of Multiple Strengths of Levothyroxine in the Management of Hypothyroidism”
[A click on the question will give the answer]
Q1. When and how should we initiate the treatment of hypothyroidism?Q2. Which is the most preferred preparation for the treatment of hypothyroidism currently available in India?
Q3. What are the criteria on which you generally base the initial dose of levothyroxine therapy?
Q4. What according to are the basic guidelines for dosage and titration of levothyroxine therapy?
Q5. Common dose for maintenance is 100 mcg of levothyroxine; can you share your experience when the dose is titrated to higher or lower strengths?
Q6. Are the current TSH assays sensitive enough for accurate titration of levothyroxine therapy?
Q7. What is the importance of monitoring hypothyroid patients on a regular basis to ensure proper thyroxine replacement?
Q8. What is the dose of levothyroxine, which could be used safely to initiate therapy in older patients?
Q9. What guidelines would you offer a patient to provide adequate therapy while minimizing both over- and undertreatment?
Q10. How according to you have multiple strengths of levothyroxine benefited the management of hypothyroidism?
