As some of you already know, Dr Peatfield kindly allowed the Thyroid Support Group in Morpeth to make a video recording of his recent lecture on ‘The Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Fatigue with reference to Thyroid and Adrenal Disorders’. We managed to get all of the talk and half of the question and answer session before the battery expired! The recording is available to borrow if any of you would like to see this. There is a small charge of £2.50 to cover post and packing if this has to be posted out and there is currently a short waiting list. If interested please contact Barbara (details above). We might be able to make more copies if anyone would like to buy this.

If you do want your own copy a better idea might be to buy a DVD, which has the complete talk and all of the Q & A session. South Devon Thyroid Group recently organised the same talk in Totnes, with over 200 people attending, and has recorded it on to DVDs. These should prove useful for those of us who were unable to attend the talk and/or forgotten some of it! The DVD costs £15, which includes post and packaging to an address in the UK and also includes a written account of the talk by Simon Clarke, a medical student. These will be available from early December. Local groups might like to purchase a DVD to show to and/or lend out to their members. There will also be one available to borrow from ME North East. Please include a cheque with your order, payable to: K. Conboy and post this to: Mrs K.Conboy, 3 Charleton Way, West Charleton, Kingsbridge, Devon, TQ7 2AN. Please include your name, postal address and postcode together with either a phone number or e-mail address.

Thyroid Support Groups: Morpeth & Chester-le-Street

The next meeting date for both of these groups will be Friday January 27th 2006. New members are most welcome for either group from any area. We both have many members diagnosed
with ME/CFS.

The Morpeth Group will be meeting at 14 The Turn, Loansdean, Morpeth NE61 2DU from 2pm to approx. 4.30pm. This group meets most months but not December. Contact Barbara if you would like more information, details as above.

The Chester-le-Street Group times are 7 to 9pm at Chester-le-Street General Hospital. They meet quarterly. Contact Dorothy on 0191 388 6134 for more information about this group.

The British Thyroid Association (BTA): UK Guidelines for Thyroid Function Tests

The BTA has recently issued draft guidelines for thyroid function tests: http://www.british-thyroid-association.org/news.htm . If these are implemented they will go a long way towards ruining the health of many thousands of us. Even with the current ranges there are many of us wrongly diagnosed with ME/CFS/Fibromyalgia because we fall inside the so-called ‘normal range’. The BTA are, amongst other things, proposing to extend the top end of the reference range for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) from the current 4.4 (local figure – it varies slightly around the country) to 10! In total contrast to this, the range in America, which used to be around 5.0, was altered 2 years ago and reduced to 3.0 enabling many more patients to be eligible for treatment; they may even further reduce this to 2.5 or less. Please have a look at these guidelines and write to the BTA; also tell your doctor and ask him/her to write to the BTA before the deadline for comments on 23rd December 2005. A letter to give your doctor on this subject is available from ME North East if required. This is our only chance to change their minds as these guidelines and their effects will be with us for many, many years.