Wilson's temperature syndrome

Wilson's syndrome is not an actual medical condition, and medical expert groups have warned against it as a potentially dangerous misunderstanding of physiology. The American Thyroid Association (ATA) released an official statement asserting that Wilson's syndrome is at odds with established knowledge of thyroid function and describing the diagnostic criteria for Wilson's syndrome as "imprecise" and "non-specific".

After one of Wilson's patients died from his treatment in 1988, Florida State Medical Board members described Wilson's temperature syndrome as a "phony syndrome" and as a scam that fleeced patients and healthcare insurers during disciplinary action against Wilson, whose medical license was suspended for six months.

Origin and claims

The term Wilson’s syndrome was coined in 1990 by E. Denis Wilson, a physician practicing in Longwood, Florida. He claimed that fatigue, headaches, PMS, hair loss, irritability, fluid retention, depression, decreased memory, low sex drive, unhealthy nails, and easy weight gain were manifestation of this eponymous syndrome. Wilson claims that it is one of "the most common of all chronic ailments and probably takes a greater toll on society than any other medical condition."

He claimed that low thyroid symptoms and low body temperatures in the presence of normal thyroid function tests are common. To distinguish his alternative concept from conventional, evidence-based hypothyroidism, he named his concept Wilson's (temperature) syndrome. The main diagnostic sign is an oral body temperature that averages well below 37.0 °C (98.6 °F). This overlaps with normal body temperature, which is usually within the range of 36.5–37.5 °C (97.7–99.5 °F). Wilson says that his diagnosis is confirmed if the patient responds to treatment with slow-release T3 (SR-T3).