Thyroid not a quick fix for weight gain

LEXINGTON, Ky., Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Researchers in Kentucky say thyroid medication is not a quick fix when it comes to overweight children.

A study by the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, found that most children treated for hypothyroidism do not lose weight.

"Parents of overweight children often desire a 'quick fix' for the problem and request thyroid tests but, unfortunately, screening for hypothyroidism is not the answer," Dr. Jefferson P. Lomenick, a pediatric endocrinologist, said Thursday in a release. "Most experts agree thyroid function tests are generally unnecessary in an overweight child if he/she has normal linear growth and no other symptoms of hypothyroidism. The results of our study support this."

The study followed 68 children with acquired hypothyroidism treated in the pediatric endocrinology clinic at Kentucky Children's Hospital from 1995 to 2006.

Lomenick said longstanding hypothyroidism causes accumulation of a proteinaceous fluid in the subcutaneous tissues called myxedema. He said the amount of adipose, or fatty tissue, "is not really altered with hypothyroidism."