Does checking your thyroid with ultrasound save lives?
Association of Screening by Thyroid Ultrasonography with Mortality in Thyroid Cancer: A Case–Control Study Using Data from Two National Surveys
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Ultrasound screening was associated with a non-significant increase in death risk (OR 1.44) when missing data was excluded.
Most assume screening reduces mortality — but here, screened people had slightly higher odds of dying, suggesting possible harm from overdiagnosis or unnecessary treatments.
Practical Takeaways
If you're asymptomatic, avoid routine thyroid ultrasound screening unless recommended by a doctor for specific symptoms or risk factors.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Ultrasound screening was associated with a non-significant increase in death risk (OR 1.44) when missing data was excluded.
Most assume screening reduces mortality — but here, screened people had slightly higher odds of dying, suggesting possible harm from overdiagnosis or unnecessary treatments.
Practical Takeaways
If you're asymptomatic, avoid routine thyroid ultrasound screening unless recommended by a doctor for specific symptoms or risk factors.
Publication
Journal
Thyroid
Year
2019
Authors
J. Jun, Soon-Young Hwang, Seri Hong, Mina Suh, K. Choi, K. Jung
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Claims (2)
Getting everyone screened for thyroid cancer finds a lot of harmless lumps that would never hurt you, so more people are told they have cancer—but it doesn’t save any lives.
Getting an ultrasound of the thyroid if you have no symptoms doesn’t seem to help people live longer or prevent them from dying of thyroid cancer, according to a study in Korea.