Thyroxine treatment in patients with symptoms of hypothyroidism but thyroid function tests within the reference range: randomised double blind placebo controlled crossover trial

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether thyroxine treatment is effective in patients with symptoms of hypothyroidism but with thyroid function tests within the reference range, and to investigate the effect of thyroxine treatment on psychological and physical wellbeing in healthy participants. DESIGN: Randomised double blind placebo controlled crossover trial. SETTING: Outpatient clinic in a general hospital. Participants: 25 patients with symptoms of hypothyroidism who had thyroid function tests within the reference range, and 19 controls. Methods: Participants were given thyroxine 100 microgram or placebo to take once a day for 12 weeks. Washout period was six weeks. They were then given the other to take once a day for 12 weeks. All participants were assessed physiologically and psychologically at baseline and on completion of each phase. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Thyroid function tests, measures of cognitive function and of psychological and physical wellbeing. RESULTS: 22 patients and 19 healthy controls completed the study. At baseline, patients' scores on 9 out of 15 psychological measures were impaired when compared with controls. Patients showed a significantly greater response to placebo than controls in 3 out of 15 psychological measures. Healthy participants had significantly lower scores for vitality when taking thyroxine compared to placebo (mean (SD) 60 (17) v 73 (16), P<0.01). However, patients' scores from psychological tests when taking thyroxine were no different from those when taking placebo except for a poorer performance on one visual reproduction test when taking thyroxine. Serum concentrations of free thyroxine increased and those of thyroid stimulating hormone decreased in patients and controls while they were taking thyroxine, confirming compliance with treatment. Although serum concentrations of free triiodothyronine increased in patients and controls taking thyroxine, the difference between the response to placebo and to thyroxine was significant only in the controls. CONCLUSIONS: Thyroxine was no more effective than placebo in improving cognitive function and psychological wellbeing in patients with symptoms of hypothyroidism but thyroid function tests within the reference range. Thyroxine did not improve cognitive function and psychological wellbeing in healthy participants

Studies of Proton Induced Neutral Pion Production Near Threshold

Supported by the National Science Foundation and Indiana Universit

Development of a Pi° Detector System

This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grants PHY 76-84033A01, PHY 78-22774, and Indiana Universit

Studies of Proton-Induced Neutral Pion Production Near Threshold

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY 81-14339 and by Indiana Universit

Proton Radiative Capture by Deuterium at Medium Energies

This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY 87-1440

Proton Radiative Capture by Deuterium at Medium Energies

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY 81-14339 and by Indiana Universit

A confirmation of agreement of different approaches for scalar gauge-invariant metric perturbations during inflation

We revisit an extension of the well-known formalism for gauge-invariant scalar metric fluctuations, to study the spectrums for both, the inflaton and gauge invariant (scalar) metric fluctuations in the framework of a single field inflationary model where the quasi-exponential expansion is driven by an inflation which is minimally coupled to gravity. The proposal here examined is valid also for fluctuations with large amplitude, but for cosmological scales, where vector and tensor perturbations can be neglected and the fluid is irrotacional.Comment: Version accepted in EPJC with new title. 11 pages, no figure

Installation of the Polarized Hydrogen Target and Detector System in the Cooler A-Region

This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478

Polarization Measurements of a Storage Cell Target

This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478

Study of a Depolarizing Resonance at the IUCF Cooler Ring

This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478