-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
Simon H. S. Pearce, Nicola J. Leech, Toward Precise Forecasting of Autoimmune Endocrinopathy, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 89, Issue 2, 1 February 2004, Pages 544–547, https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2003-032142
Close - Share Icon Share
Extract
The practice of medicine is moving from an era of treating disease to disease prevention. Thus, it is not surprising that the scientific literature is currently filled with studies of organ-specific autoantibodies as markers of autoimmune endocrine disease. The association of autoantibodies with autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) was established more than 40 yr ago, and yet their role in routine clinical practice remains ill-defined. Individuals can be identified as being at high risk of certain autoimmune diseases by virtue of personal or family history. This, combined with the appearance of autoantibodies long before the development of organ failure, means in principle that the autoimmune endocrinopathies have many characteristics suited to prediction and prevention. The current practice remains, however, to intervene with hormone replacement at the point of almost complete organ failure, leaving little or no scope for disease modification. This is in contrast to the approach in many other autoimmune disorders (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis).
