Normal Thyroid Levels
Facts About Normal Thyroid Levels
When someone speaks of normal thyroid levels they are generally referring to the level of the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), determined through blood tests, as well as the levels of the T3 and T4 hormones which the thyroid gland produces, and that these levels are falling within certain "normal" ranges. When you review the results of a blood test you will see a listing of various components of the blood together with ranges or levels in which these components should lie when all is normal. These ranges are generally established by analysis and averaging of blood sample results over a very large population. To determine what the reasonable or safe levels of TSH, T3 and T4 should be, the population sample needs to be made up of people who are free of any thyroid disease.
The TSH range has varied over the past few years and while what the exact numbers are somewhat still open to discussion, a range from 0.3 to 3.0 is generally accepted. What this means to you is that if the result of your blood test is a reading of greater than 3 the reading is flagged as "High" which indicates the possibility of hyperthyroidism, better known as an overactive thyroid condition. Similarly, a reading below 0.3 will be flagged as "Low" indicating the possibility of a hypothyroid or under active thyroid condition. The accepted range used to be greater with the result that cases of abnormal thyroid conditions went untreated for far more people that have been the case since the ranges were narrowed. It's similar to the situation in which if you reduce the size of the holes in a net you catch more fish. In this case the "fish" are those having abnormal thyroid conditions.
When measured, the normal thyroid levels of T4 and T3, the hormones produced by the thyroid gland, should fall within certain ranges (4.5 to 12.5 for T4 and 80 to 220) for T3. An analysis of all the components measured will generally give a better picture of overall health than the measure of any individual element. It's helpful to be armed with a little knowledge of the acceptable ranges where components of your blood should fall, not only for thyroid tests but for other tests as well. A reading well outside of an established range usually is indicative of one problem or another. Of course if a result seems to make no sense at all or points to a very severe problem a second test is a good idea. Not all blood test analyses are performed perfectly, a blood sample may have become contaminated or any number of other things in the laboratory would skew the results.
Being aware what your normal thyroid levels should be is very important in that the number of people in this country with abnormal thyroid conditions is very large, close to 8% of the population and larger than the number affected with diabetes. The problem is compounded by the fact that most people are unaware of the symptoms of thyroid issues and in fact know very little about the thyroid gland itself. The next time you have a blood test, take a look at the numbers for TSH, T3 and T4. Hopefully in your case they'll be well within accepted levels.