Ground beef
patties can cause hyperthyroidism
(November 2003)
The background of the study.
High doses of thyroid hormone can cause hyperthyroidism, and sometimes
the source of the excess thyroid hormone is not obvious. This case
report describes a woman who had several episodes of hyperthyroidism
caused by ingestion of beef patties that contained thyroid tissue.
Case report. A
61-year-old woman consulted her physician because of weight loss
(4 kg), palpitations, and increased perspiration of several weeks'
duration. She had a rapid heart rate and tremor. Her thyroid was
not enlarged. Her serum free thyroxine concentration was high and
her serum thyrotropin concentration was low, confirming the diagnosis.
She improved with no treatment; eight weeks later her serum free
thyroxine concentration was normal.
Review of her record revealed that this was her fifth episode of
hyperthyroidism in the preceding 10 years. At approximately two-year
intervals, she had symptoms of hyperthyroidism for 8 to 12 weeks
that subsided without treatment. During several episodes she had
low radioiodine uptake values, normal serum antithyroid antibody
concentrations, and low serum thyroglobulin concentrations; these
findings suggested thyroid hormone therapy, which she had never
received.
A source of exogenous thyroid hormone was sought. The patient and
her husband lived on a farm, and they periodically slaughtered a
cow for their meat. Further inquiry revealed that their butcher
removed thyroid tissue along with the muscles of the larynx (gullet
trimmings), and then used all this tissue to prepare ground meat.
The patient, but not her husband, who never had any symptoms of
hyperthyroidism, ate patties prepared from this ground meat for
a few months after it was prepared. No ground meat was available
for analysis.
The conclusions of the study.
Ingestion of ground meat prepared from neck muscle that includes
thyroid tissue can cause hyperthyroidism.
The original article.
Parmar MS, Sturge C. Recurrent hamburger thyrotoxicosis. CMAJ 2003;169:415-7.
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