Question
A boy born prematurely 17 days early and weighing 3.3 kilograms discovered to have hypothyroidism on the 15th day after birth through a heel prick blood test. The parents inquire about the ease of treatment for this disease, whether the child will be like a normal child after recovery, and express concerns and sadness.
Answer
Newborn hypothyroidism is a metabolic disease with intergenerational genetic transmission, commonly referred to as cretinism, which affects children’s normal growth and development. For the child’s condition, it is recommended to promptly investigate the cause of the disease and use thyroid hormone replacement therapy to minimize the impact on the child’s quality of life. Additionally, parents should appropriately feed the child, timely introduce complementary foods, and moderately supplement vitamin D and calcium. These are suggestions for the “pediatric hypothyroidism” question, hoping they will be helpful to parents, and wish the child a healthy growth!