Staying Fit
Something was not quite right — that much Maggie Kruger knew for sure.
In just six months, the then-40-year-old art gallery owner from Sarasota, Fla., had added 40 pounds to her tall, thin frame despite never wavering from her daily exercise and healthy eating habits. She also felt tired, her hair seemed to be thinning, her fingernails were dry and brittle, and her throat felt constricted.
AARP Membership— $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal
Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine.
But when she went to see her doctor, he told her she was just depressed and eating too much. He put her on an antidepressant.
"I had all the classic symptoms of thyroid disease, but he never tested for it," says Kruger, now 60.
Kruger's experience is all too common, according to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), which has launched a new website, thyroidawareness.com, to help educate Americans about thyroid disorders. The association estimates that 30 million Americans suffer from thyroid conditions, and more than half remain undiagnosed.
In addition, women are seven to 10 times more likely than men to suffer from hypothyroidism, a condition where the thyroid gland is not producing enough hormone — which turned out to be Kruger's problem when she finally switched doctors a year later and was properly diagnosed. As she put it, "My thyroid just quit."
Unfortunately — as Kruger found — even after diagnoses, thyroid problems are not quite as simple to fix as some popular magazines and TV talk shows make it appear. And weight gain can't automatically be blamed on a faulty thyroid.
More From AARP
The Lies We Tell Our Doctor
Why it's important to your health to come clean
Are Hormones Causing Your Weight Gain?
The latest thinking on how things like testosterone and estrogen imbalances may or may not add pounds