Thyroid Information

Last evening, I attended a lecture at Country Hills Library in west Kitchener. The back lecture room was filled with over 50 men and women from the Guelph/KW area. Most of us are experiencing thyroid issues.

Endocrinologist Dr. Terri Paul presented an informative and interesting talk on thyroid cancer. She discussed the different types of cancers and risk factors. She calmly assured us that dental x-rays and mammograms do not give enough radiation exposure to cause cancer. Also, the risk of dying from thyroid cancer is very low.

Some interesting facts and statistics...

• In 2011, 5700 new cases of thyroid cancer will be reported in Canada.
• Ontario and New Brunswick are thyroid cancer hot spots. According to Dr. Paul, there is no apparent reason for this trend.
• There has been a definite increase in thyroid cancer between 1993 and 2007. Among women aged 20 to 39, there has been a 10 percent increase. Dr. Paul attributes this increase to better imaging studies and CT scans.
• Thyroid cancer is more common in males.

Thanks to the Canadian Thyroid Foundation for organizing this event.