"Oddly enough, the hyperactive child may sometimes also be hypothyroid. One of the most severely hypothyroid children that I saw in my surgery. was a girl 3 years old, thin as a rake, cold as ice, and with the activity of a cartoon Tasmanian devil. Everything was cast to the floor in a sort of blur, the mother beyond despair. She reverted to normal within 2 or 3 months of treatment.

To miss lesser degrees of hypothyroidism in children is a major disaster, because the child can never achieve its full potential. It will be intellectually or emotionally affected and may find itself labelled with a diagnosis of autism. The poor achiever at school is a very likely candidate, and it may not be revealed by blood tests. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is another aspect of the problem; some of these children are actually hypothyroid but are not diagnosed. The conventional treatment consists of stimulating brain activity by the use of amphetamine-like stimulants; restoring brain activity to normal by bringing thyroid function back online, obviously makes more sense.

Failure to make the diagnosis will ruin someones life."