# question about antibodies



## melissab (Mar 23, 2011)

I was advised on another board that I have Hashi's b/c my tests showed antibodies...

Antithyroglobulin (TgAb) <20 (0 - 40)

Thyroid Peroxide (TPO) 20 (0 - 34)

I was told the antibodies didn't need to be high to be considerd hashi's, they need only be present.

Could someone here advise, please? (full lab results in my intro post if needed http://www.thyroidboards.com/showthread.php?t=2941)

Thanks so much,

Melissa


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## lainey (Aug 26, 2010)

Antibodies are found in a percentage of the general population that does not have thyroid disease. This is true for many autoantibodies of many types.

You can develop a thyroid problem without them also.

The presence of antibodies indicate the potential for a problem, the issue is how active they are, and that is usually in the numbers--ie, they are active if they are very elevated. However, elevated levels of antibodies are usually not treatable in and of themselves, they generally have to have altered your thyroid labs enough in one direction or the other (hyper or hypo) to warrant medication.


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## prettynikki5 (Dec 9, 2009)

melissab said:


> I was advised on another board that I have Hashi's b/c my tests showed antibodies...
> 
> Antithyroglobulin (TgAb) <20 (0 - 40)
> 
> ...


I have heard conflicting things regarding the antibodies. Common sense tells me that if ANY are present that means something.....yet there is a "normal' range with every test....this confuses me and I still don't know the answer to that question....hopefully someone here does. When I was diagnosed with Hashi's my Thyroid Peroxide numbers were well normal. But I am guessing they started out small and got bigger so maybe long before I tested for them they were in a "normal" range at some point? Hmmm...


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