My daughter has had Type 1 diabetes since the age of 10 months. At the age of 12 her doctor found high levels of thyroid antibodies. If low dose L-thyroxine treatment is begun early with the detection of high levels of thyroid antibodies, how great is the likelihood of halting the autoimmune process? I am looking for percentages.

The association of thyroid problems with diabetes has long been acknowledged; but it has been only in the last few years that they have been recognised as the two most common components of the Autoimmune Polyglandular Syndrome Type II. Celiac disease and adrenocortical insufficiency are the next most common and there are many others. The intricacies of the autoimmune process in relation to the thyroid gland have been far less extensively explored than for the beta cells in the pancreas. In part this is because many centers still depend on a rise in the TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) rather than a thyroid antibody test for diagnosis and in part because treatment is so straightforward and free of complications. From such evidence as there is though, your daughter is likely to need treatment for the rest of her life and antibodies will persist.

DOB