Part of “CHAPTER 45 – HYPOTHYROIDISM“

By the end of the nineteenth century, the syndrome of acquired thyroid hormone deficiency in adults was described as a “cretinoid” state by Gull.1 Ord proposed the term myxoedema to be applied to this condition, which he observed in middle-aged women.2 Kocher3 described its occurrence after thyroidectomy, and by 1894, Raven4 had described the use of oral thyroid medication in the treatment of this disease.