Paper long abstract:

In the field of metabolism defects often caused by a dysfunctional thyroid gland there seem to be a growing discrepancy between the official and medical science supported normalization practices operated in hospitals and in primary care and the growing skillfulness of patients monitoring their bodily functions and adjusting their medical treatment. These patients are in Denmark typically communicating through web-sites where stories and experiences are exchanged and growing criticism of the available medical treatment products appear. Also the often rather problematic use of normalized, statistical data about metabolism is in hospitals and primary care used to judge treatment schemes and medication without reflecting patients individual dispositions and bodily experiences. This include the grey zones of knowledge about the transformation between different forms of the thyroid hormones. The case study points to a growing field of practice and personal expertise that question the forms of knowledge dominant in medical sciences.