Treatment
The goal of newborn screening programs is to detect and start treatment within the first 1–2 weeks of life. Treatment consists of a daily dose of thyroxine, available as a small tablet. The generic name is levothyroxine, and several brands are available. Commonly used brands in North America are Synthroid, Levoxyl, Unithroid, and Levothroid. The tablet is crushed and given to the infant with a small amount of water or milk. The most commonly recommended dose range is 10-15 μg/kg daily, typically 37.5 or 44 μg. Within a few weeks, the T4 and TSH levels are rechecked to confirm that they are being normalized by treatment. As the child grows up, these levels are checked regularly to maintain the right dose. The dose increases as the child grows.
Read more about this topic: Congenital Hypothyroidism
Famous quotes containing the word treatment:
“A regular council was held with the Indians, who had come in on their ponies, and speeches were made on both sides through an interpreter, quite in the described mode,—the Indians, as usual, having the advantage in point of truth and earnestness, and therefore of eloquence. The most prominent chief was named Little Crow. They were quite dissatisfied with the white man’s treatment of them, and probably have reason to be so.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury and wrongdoing. Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course. Similarly, I will not give to a woman a pessary to cause abortion. I will keep pure and holy both my life and my art.”
—Hippocrates (c. 460–c. 370 B.C.)
“The treatment of African and African American culture in our education was no different from their treatment in Tarzan movies.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)