From the Editor's Notebook

From ThyroWorld, Volume 1, No. 2

The "ayes have it" is a common phrase in voting parlance but the "eyes have it" in another spelling and setting is quite a different story. In this case, the eyes are those swollen orbits of thyroid eye disease patients a malady that causes untold anxiety and anguish to those who suffer from it. It may thus be of comfort and hope to these sufferers to know that some 200 doctors endocrinologists, surgeons, clinicians gathered in late May at the foot of Mount Olympus in northern Greece to discuss this affliction, to exchange views on its cause and cure and to present their latest research findings at the International Satellite Symposium of the European Thyroid Association's 25th Annual Meeting. The topic to which they devoted themselves for three days was Advances in Thyroid Eye Disease.

The sessions given by outstanding researchers covered Pathogenesis, Clinical Presentations and Therapy in a variety of formats such as formal papers, panel and group discussions and poster presentations. The highly technical nature of the research presented serves to remind us of the complexity of the disease and of how physically injurious and emotionally destructive it can be. For these reasons, we are devoting a large part of this issue to thyroid eye disease. We hope that over time, advances in thyroid eye research will ultimately enter the world of practical treatment surely, the raison d'etre of research itself.

Yes, the Greeks certainly do have a word for it! A quick glance at the scientific program of the 25th ETA meeting readily confirms that fact. For example, all those ophthal words ophthalmology and ophthalmopathy, the eye words. And what about thyroid itself, the basic shield with its hyper (over) and hypo (under) forms. Then, there are the more esoteric esotropia (a turning inward) or exophthalmos (a pushing out). And the list goes on.

So perhaps along with the basic Greek greetings that we acquired, we found that we knew more Greek than we thought we did. ENTA=EI!

June Rose-Beaty, Editor