American Thyroid Association.

The thyroid plays an important role in human health, regulating metabolism, body temperature, growth and development, and organ functions including heart rate and blood pressure. Thyroid disorders affect an estimated 200 million people worldwide, with women affected eight times more than men. Recent studies suggest that even more people may be affected because of undiagnosed or misdiagnosed thyroid problems.

The American Thyroid Association (ATA), based in Falls Church, Virginia, is a professional society that promotes research, public awareness, and improved diagnosis, treatment, and policy for thyroid diseases. The ATA has created its website, located at http://www.thyroid.org/, to educate researchers, health care providers, and the general public about its work.

The site's homepage features information on upcoming meetings (including the group's 75th annual meeting in October), workshops, and accreditation courses, both in the United States and abroad. To help practitioners, researchers, and patients stay abreast of new developments, the site offers recent news items and ATA press releases on subjects including advances in thyroid treatment and announcements from such organizations as the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

In the Professionals section of the site is a listing of International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes that the ATA has recommended to Medicare for laboratory testing for thyroid dysfunction, as well as National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry guidelines developed to help clinicians better diagnose these problems. These guidelines present preanalytic factors that must be taken into account when a patient presents with abnormal levels of thyroid hormones and an in-depth overview of the laboratory tests used in this field.

The section's Other Sites of Professional Interest link has information on patient support organizations, educational materials, international thyroid and endocrinology societies, and pharmaceutical companies that develop and sell medications for thyroid treatment. The Potassium Iodide Information link yields resources related to the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics that parents, schools, and child care centers within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant have ready access to potassium iodide tablets, which can protect children against thyroid cancer in the event of radiation exposure.

Visitors can access the ATA's three official publications through the ATA Publications link on the Professionals page. Published three times each year, Clinical Thyroidology summarizes and comments on recently released thyroid research from journals around the world, and is available free of charge in PDF format. The ATA's monthly peer-reviewed research journal, Thyroid, and its newsletter, Signal, are available on the members-only portion of the website.

The Public & Patients section of the ATA website is provided for laypeople wanting to learn more about thyroid-related health conditions. Located here are resources on potassium iodide, frequently asked questions on the most common thyroid diseases, more detailed brochures and booklets (available as PDFs), and a listing of books of interest. Links to patient support organizations also are available here, and patients can follow the Find a Specialist link to access a clickable U.S. map and a pull-down list of other countries.