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Thyroid
Disorders & Treatments 
Thyroid Related Disorders |
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Left-Handedness and Ambidexterity
Left-handedness tends to be more common among men than women, while
autoimmune thyroid disease tends to happen more in women. Thus if
you try to find out the frequency of any degree of left-handedness
among thyroid patients the answer you get depends on whether you
ask men or women with thyroid trouble about hand preference.
In an informal research survey, Doctors Lawrence Wood and David
Cooper asked 74 men with Graves' or Hashimoto's disease about this
and found that 12 were pure left handers, 40 ambidextrous, and only
22 pure right handers. Thus, 70 percent of these men had some degree
of left-handedness. In contrast, among 24 individuals with other
types of thyroid problems such, as benign and cancerous nodules,
only two were left-handed and four ambidextrous for a total of 25%;
75% being right-handed.
So if you or someone in your family are completely or partially
left-handed, this may be a clue that there is also a tendency to
autoimmune problems including Graves' and Hashimoto's diseases on
that side of the family.
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The Thyroid Foundation Of America
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Boston, MA 02114
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