Thyroid and Pregnancy ⎥Why It Matters, with Dr. Elizabeth Pearce from Boston University

In this episode, topics include:

• Hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism during pregnancy
• Pregnant and without a thyroid
• Avoiding T3 during pregnancy, including concerns with desiccated thyroid
• If being treated for hypothyroidism already, the importance of upping dose while pregnant
• Pregnant with auto-immunity
• Pregnant with Graves’ disease
• The dangers of pregnancy and overt hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism
• Three-percent of pregnancies are affected
• The importance of iodine during pregnancy

Dr. Pearce received her undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard and a masters’ degree in epidemiology from the Boston University School of Public Health. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and her fellowship in endocrinology at the Boston University Medical Center. She is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. She has served as a member of the board of directors of the American Thyroid Association and is currently on the management council of the Iodine Global Network.  She recently co-chaired the ATA’s Thyroid in Pregnancy Guidelines Task Force. She was the 2011 recipient of the ATA’s Van Meter Award for outstanding contributions to research on the thyroid gland.

NOTES

Elizabeth Pearce

American Thyroid Association