4 ms·
>Edison machines would sometimes produce “radically different results” for the same patients, the former employee alleged. Referring to a thyroid test known as
by Jerry2 11y ago
>Edison machines would sometimes produce “radically different results” for the same patients, the former employee alleged. Referring to a thyroid test known as thyroid-stimulating hormone, the employee wrote that “a patient would swing between” hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism, or too little of the hormone and too much, when the test was repeated the same day.
This sounds really bad. When you have this huge amount of uncertainty in results, it calls into question their whole finger prick blood sampling methodology. I'm starting to think that it's impossible to get an accurate blood work from a finger prick only.
- bbarn 11y agoIt is. As someone who's been through the pain of this exact lab fuck up (though from traditional, not theranos equipment I would assume) being mis-diagnosed and starting medication for this condition incorrectly can be terrible. The cure for Hyperthyroidism is so easy, and the condition so common, that people forget what the effects of the extremes of the conditions are. There are lots of industries you can disrupt, or fail fast at, but lab testing isn't one of them.
- dangero 11y agoWhat is the cure for hyperthyroidism? I'm wondering if you mean hypothyroidism?
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- SandB0x 11y agoIf my cat is anything to go by, the options are: a daily pill, radioactive iodine, surgery or a new type of very expensive cat food.
- Dan_Nguyen 11y agoI think it's safe to say the last one isn't for humans.
- cant_kant 11y agoDepends on the clinical situation. The options include partial thyroidectomy/ radioiodine therapy / carbimazole, propylthiouracil and a few other niche options for use use in special situations like pregnancy associated thyrotoxicosis.
- danieltillett 11y ago>I'm starting to think that it's impossible to get an accurate blood work from a finger prick only. It is possible, but just for certain test types and error rates. The basic problem is the blood drawn from a finger prick is affected by exactly where it goes in and how much skin tissue is picked up. This variability gets averaged out with a large venous draw and so is not quite as bad - there is still a large variability with even normal blood tests for certain test types. The tests that work OK are things where you just want a yes/no answer (do you have HSV1) and very poorly for things where you are wanting to measuring exact levels of something. None of this is new to the industry.
- raverbashing 11y agoI wonder if they can detect the level of known impurities and correct for that. If the issue is skin contamination, measure the level of some substance that is correlated with that contamination, then apply a correction factor
- danieltillett 11y agoI assume that is what they hoped to do. Lots of people with decades of experience in this area have tried to do this before without too much success. This doesn't mean it is impossible, but if you are claiming to be able do something that everybody else has tried and failed then your data needs to be impeccable. No hiding behind trade secrets and saying trust us.
- zmanian 11y agoIf I remember that anecdote correctly, Edison was producing very variable results on diluted venous blood not finger prick.
- cant_kant 11y agoIt would be good if there was more clarity on whether the test was repeated on the same specimen or on another specimen collected from the same patient at a different time. If it is the latter, case marked variations could have a number of explanations, ranging from the inevitable inaccuracy of finger prick collection, through errors due to dilution by Theranos, problems with the technology and equipment and diurnal variation of TSH levels See also Diurnal variation in TSH and free thyroid hormones in patients on thyroxine replacement. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2588938 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2588938