Many researchers and clinicians consider the term «thyroid disease» to include only pathological processes that occur 1) within the thyroid gland itself, or 2) in other tissues, such as the pituitary gland, and indirectly result in
subnormal function of the thyroid gland.
The investigators wrote that their results suggest that patients with microsomal thyroid anti-bodies may have symptoms due to
subnormal thyroid hormone regulation of cell
function before thyroid gland dysfunction is detectable by tests of thyroid hormone and TSH levels.