Abstract:

Background: Hypothyroidism during adolescence requires particular clinical attention because thyroid hormone is important for normal growth, pubertal development, metabolism, neurocognitive function, and general well-being. Acquired autoimmune thyroiditis is an important cause of hypothyroidism in this age group. Clinical presentation is heterogeneous, ranging from biochemical abnormalities with few symptoms to overt hypothyroidism accompanied by fatigue, growth disturbance, weight gain, cold intolerance, constipation, menstrual abnormalities, skin and hair changes, and cognitive or emotional complaints. Contemporary management distinguishes overt hypothyroidism from subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH), and levothyroxine remains established replacement therapy when thyroid hormone replacement is indicated.

Objective: To systematically integrate the literature concerning clinical-biochemical phenotyping of adolescent hypothyroidism with structured homoeopathic case-taking, repertorial mapping, and traditional materia medica differentiation, and to propose a safety-oriented protocol for future clinical research.

Methods: The review framework was developed according to PRISMA 2020 principles. Relevant literature was sought across biomedical and complementary-medicine sources using concepts related to adolescent hypothyroidism, autoimmune thyroiditis, subclinical hypothyroidism, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4), homeopathy/homoeopathy, individualised treatment, repertory, case-taking, and therapeutic differentiation. Contemporary endocrine guidelines and clinical studies were distinguished from historical homoeopathic sources. The latter were used for conceptual therapeutic differentiation and not as evidence of clinical efficacy.

Results: Adolescent hypothyroidism can be characterised through a multidimensional framework incorporating thyroid function, thyroid autoimmunity, growth and pubertal status, metabolic manifestations, neurocognitive features, menstrual/reproductive manifestations where relevant, and functional impairment. Evidence for homoeopathic treatment of pediatric thyroid dysfunction is limited. One exploratory randomised placebo-controlled study involving children aged 6–18 years with SCH with or without autoimmune thyroiditis reported differences in biochemical outcomes favouring individualised homoeopathy, but this isolated study does not establish that homoeopathy can replace thyroid hormone therapy in overt hypothyroidism.

Conclusion: A structured pathway connecting endocrine diagnosis, biochemical phenotype, patient characteristics, repertorial translation, and traditional therapeutic differentiation may improve transparency and reproducibility of homoeopathic research. It should complement—not replace—appropriate endocrine assessment and established thyroid hormone replacement when indicated. Future research requires adequately powered randomised trials, prospective registration, standardised thyroid outcomes, transparent repertorial reporting, and long-term safety monitoring.

Keywords:

adolescent hypothyroidism, Hashimoto thyroiditis, subclinical hypothyroidism, case-taking, repertory, homoeopathy, clinical phenotyping, TSH, therapeutic differentiation, individualised medicine.

Aim/Objectives

Methods