Advantages and disadvantages of antithyroid drug therapy

Antithyroid medication: Advantages: efficacy is certain; does not lead to permanent hypothyroidism; convenient, economical and safer to use. Disadvantages: long course of treatment, usually takes 1 to 2 years, sometimes up to several years; high relapse rate after stopping the drug, resulting in treatment failure; can also be accompanied by liver function impairment and other side effects. Dosage and course of treatment: Initial treatment: propylthiouracil 300~450 mg per day, or tabazole (or hyperthyroidism) 30~40 mg per day, taken orally 2~3 times, until the symptoms are relieved or the serum thyroxine is normalized, then the dosage can be reduced. Taper period: reduce the dose about once every 2 to 4 weeks. The dosage of propylthiouracil can be reduced by 50-100 mg each time, and tabazole or hyperthyroidism can be reduced by 5-10 mg each time. After the symptoms are completely eliminated and the signs have improved significantly, the dose should be reduced to the maintenance dose. Maintenance period: propylthiouracil 50-100 mg daily, tabazole or hyperthyroidism 5-10 mg daily. Maintain this for 1 to 2 years, and if necessary, halve the maintenance dose before stopping the drug. Throughout the course of treatment, it is important to avoid interruptions. If there is any stress such as infection or mental factors at any stage, it is advisable to increase the dosage at any time and then decrease it after stabilization. The dosage should be reduced only when TSH is high and T3 and T4 are low, so as to improve the cure rate. Otherwise, it is easy to relapse. For the ATD treatment process appears hyperthyroidism symptom relief but goiter or synophthalmos worsened, anti-thyroid drugs can be appropriate to reduce the amount, and can be added daily levothyroxine (L-T4) 25 ~ 50 micrograms or thyroid tablets 20 ~ 60 mg, for corrective treatment. The beta-blocker propranolol (cardioplegia) 10 to 20 mg three times a day can be used in combination during the first 1 to 2 months of antithyroid medication to improve palpitations, tachycardia, nervousness, tremor, and excessive sweating, but it is contraindicated in the presence of bronchial asthma, atrioventricular block, heart failure, and childbirth, and it should be used with caution in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Drugs such as atenolol or metoprolol can be chosen instead. Factors affecting the efficacy: 1, the length of the course of treatment. 2, the patient’s blood TRAb level: the remission rate of those with high TRAb level in the initial treatment is only 15%, while the remission rate of those with low TRAb level is 50%, and it is difficult for ATD to reduce TRAb to normal. This is the main reason for the poor efficacy of ATD for GD. 3, the degree of enlargement of the thyroid gland: thyroid is not big GD remission rate of 76%. While the GD relief rate of the thyroid gland is only 37% for those with moderate or more enlarged thyroid gland. 4, the amount of intake: iodine intake in high areas of hyperthyroidism remission rate is low, has been reported ATD treatment 17.6 months, the remission rate is only 13.6%. 5.Family history, obvious protruding eyes, high blood L concentration, slow decline in treatment and poor adherence to medication are also factors affecting the efficacy of ATD.