Aaron Hartman, MDFunctional Medicine Specialist | Clinical Researcher

80% of Thyroid Patients Are Women — Their Symptoms Are Dismissed as Menopause Three Times Mo #shorts

25 Aug 2026 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:50

In this short, Dr. Aaron Hartman highlights that 80% of thyroid patients are women, yet their symptoms are frequently dismissed as menopause, psychiatric issues, or other problems—often three times more than men. He frames this as a form of medical gaslighting and positions himself as a "medical feminist" advocating for heightened awareness of gender‑specific health blind spots. Hartman outlines key thyroid‑related symptoms (brain fog, fatigue, irregular periods, weight gain, infertility) and notes common triggers such as viral illness, major life events, and COVID‑19, which can push patients into subclinical hypothyroidism. He stresses the importance of a comprehensive thyroid panel—including TSH, free T4, free T3, reverse T3, and thyroid antibodies—to achieve an accurate, personalized diagnosis. Emphasizing that most hypothyroidism in the U.S. originates from autoimmune disease, he points out that antibodies can be detected years before clinical diagnosis, allowing earlier intervention. Finally, he invites viewers to share their stories, directs them to his website and a dedicated thyroid blog series featuring top functional doctors, and underscores the broader significance of recognizing gender‑based diagnostic blind spots for overall health and wellbeing.

Chapters

80% of thyroid patients are women. 80%, 8 out of 10. And yet studies show the women's symptoms are dismissed as menopause, psychiatric issue, or other problems 3 times more than men. This is a great example of gaslighting, a common condition that's commonly overlooked. Women are affected by it more than men. The result is That's nothing wrong with you. All in your head. You can't be helped. This is a great example of these things. And this is one of the reasons why I'm becoming a medical feminist, realizing that there are certain things that women suffer more than men. And we need to actually have our spidey sense, be looking for these more. So, how do you look for this? You need a full thyroid panel. If you have any of those symptoms, brain fog, fatigue, abnormal period cycles, weight gain, infertility, you just don't feel right. This can happen after viral illness. It can happen after a major life event, after COVID. All these can actually trigger your body entering this Subclinical hypothyroid or this normal abnormal state. So what should you do? You should check a TSH, free T4, free T3, reverse T3, and thyroid antibodies. The vast majority of hypothyroidism in our country started out as a thyroid autoimmune condition, and picking that up can actually be super helpful. Sometimes as well, you can pick up the antibodies being positive years before diagnosis, so you can actually change the trajectory of the illness. Point is, you have to have a good clean diagnosis, a personalized precision. playing for you and then address it. If you're someone that's been overlooked by the system, I'd love to share your story below. If you'd like some more resources, we have tons on our website. We actually did a whole thyroid blog series and we've actually done in our hormone series, talk about thyroid extensively. So if you want to learn more from some of the top functional doctors in the country, visit our blog as well as our website. We'd love to share information and help educate you to get your life back on track. Realizing these blind spots is super huge and super important for your health and wellbeing.