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Raising awareness of thyroid disease
Five years ago Dawn Wood's life was crashing down around her.
She was confined to bed, thought she had dementia and went bankrupt.
Today she is literally back on her feet and back to herself, running her own successful costume design business from her home in Beeston, Leeds.
Dawn didn't have dementia. Nor did she have ME, which she was also diagnosed with.
After nearly two years of unexplained illness which culminated in a complete "crash", she finally discovered she actually had a thyroid disorder.
When that was corrected through treatment, she felt 10 times better.
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland at the front of the neck. It is one of the main endocrine glands and produces three hormones which help regulate the rate of the body's internal functions, such as the metabolism, heart rate and body temperature.
No-one realised at first, but Dawn's thyroid was not working properly. She had developed hypothyroidism, where the gland slows down or even stops producing hormones.
This leaves sufferers with symptoms like unexplained weight gain, extreme fatigue, loss of co-ordination and depression.
At the other end of the scale, the thyroid gland can overwork so it produces too many hormones. They result in patients suffering severe weight loss, hyperactivity, loss of sleep and paranoia.
Despite these debilitating symptoms, once the conditions are diagnosed they can be treated, usually through medication.
Dawn thinks she first started becoming ill following a virus.
"I was busy but I was putting on weight and was very tired," she said.
"This had been going on for about eight months when I'd done a few jobs in a row. The next morning I couldn't get out of bed – I actually couldn't move."
Her GP did think Dawn had thyroid problems – but a test revealed she was within what is deemed the "normal" range.
She was instead diagnosed with ME but continued to go downhill.
"I got to the point where I could not do anything apart from sit in front of a computer screen," the 44-year-old said.
Through her research, she unearthed more and more links to thyroid problems. Through those Dawn became convinced her illness was caused by that and not ME. She was eventually was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in 2004, two years after becoming ill.
Her condition had not been picked up earlier because she'd been deemed "normal" through tests, something which she is now raising awareness of.
Opinion is divided among medics as to what the normal testing range should be – the test which is used to diagnose thyroid illnesses results in a score which in the UK is said to be normal if it is between 0.5 and 5. But in other countries that range can be much narrower, leading to many more people being diagnosed.
The possibility of many people going undiagnosed and the desire to share her research on the subject led Dawn to set up her website.
In February 2006 she started www.thyroid-disease.org.uk as a means to share information with other sufferers. She also added a forum where people could discuss the condition and it has proved to be a huge success.
"I couldn't just walk away when I got well," she said.
"No-one should go through what I went through. We shouldn't have 800 members. I would be happier if we had none, because then I would know that there was no-one out there being misdiagnosed. No-one would be getting the wrong information."
Clearly there is a need out there though – there are now 805 members and the website gets about 11,000 hits a month.
But Dawn has even bigger plans. A new and improved website will be launched on April 1 with a paid-for membership option.
The next aim is to raise 100,000 in the next year, cash that will go towards setting up a central office in Leeds.
"While we are working from home there's a lot we can't do but if we have premises there is a awful lot we can do," she said.
"We can set up a support group and collect mobile phones for recycling, which is one of our fundraising campaigns."
Dawn, along with a 10-strong committee and project co-ordinator Helen Taylor, has drawn up a business plan and the organisation is applying for funding grants as well as running several fundraising schemes.
They are collecting old mobile phones which are worth 3 each to the charity, in any condition. They're also launching the 400:100 campaign, based on the statistic that as many as one in four people could be affected by thyroid disease.
In recognition, the organisation is hoping to persuade 400 businesses to donate 100 each to the cause.
Members are also due to staff the Healthy Living Stall at Kirkgate Market in Leeds and they've also got two people running the Edinburgh marathon for them.
And on July 26 a burlesque fashion show will be held at Subculture in Leeds with all proceeds going to thyroid-disease.org.uk.
Other aims for the organisation include looking into creating a thyroid support group in Leeds and producing a series of self-help packs.
Long term they are planning to become a registered charity – having already been set up as a not-for-profit voluntary organisation.
Though there are other national organisations for people with thyroid diseases, including the British Thyroid Foundation and Thyroid UK which is working in partnership with Dawn, she said her aims were to be patient-led.
She wants provide knowledge, information and support and overall, show sufferers they can live a normal life with the condition.
"It's about living with it," she said.
"We want to try and change the awareness. People understand with diabetes, they understand with ME – they don't with thyroid disease."
Symptoms of thyroid diseases
Low body temperature
High cholesterol
High or low blood pressure
Diabetes
Allergies
Intolerance to cold or heat
Heart problems or palpitations
Dizzy Spells
Anaemia
Water retention
Loss of appetite
Joint/muscle pain
Weight gain
Extreme tiredness
Dry, sore or scaly skin
Hair loss
Broken sleep
Lethargy
Sensation of a lump in the throat
Egg-stra healthy Easter
IT'S Easter – though no-one could have failed to notice thanks to the supermarket shelves groaning under the weight of chocolate eggs.
But with so many treats around, from special Easter Sunday meals to hot cross buns, how can you stay healthy?
Leeds-based charity Heart Research UK has a few tips.
They say Easter eggs can fit into a healthy, balanced diet, as long as you make some smart choices.
Choose dark chocolate eggs and bunnies with a cocoa content of over 70 per cent and have a little every day to benefit from the antioxidants that are good for healthy arteries
Bake some bunny or chick shaped biscuits with wholemeal flour, ginger or cinnamon but less sugar
Make a colourful Easter-themed basket of tasty fresh mango, pineapple and star fruit along with dried papaya and walnuts
Organise an Easter egg hunt in your house or garden so the whole family gets a workout
Go out for a long walk or try something different like rollerblading, scootering, or cycling. Afterwards you can then enjoy toasted hot cross buns, spread with a little low-fat margarine.
And when you are indulging in a few treats, pay close attention to the label and you won't pile on the pounds.
More than 50 per cent of foods feature a What's Inside Guide which shows the fat, calories and other nutrients in a suggested portion of food. The labels show the information based on Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) for each element and make it easier to decide if it's a good choice or not.
For example, if a hot cross bun contains 10 per cent of your GDA for calories, then it's fine to eat as long as you are careful to ensure that the rest of the foods you eat that day do not exceed 90 per cent of your daily recommended calories.
For more information, visit www.whatsinsideguide.com.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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