The Hidden Epidemic

In 2005, a popular South African magazine published an article on Mariëtte Chippindall’s journey from a depressed, overweight woman with an undiagnosed thyroid problem, to being a Mrs South Africa 2005 finalist (a title she won two weeks later). The reaction was astonishing: more than 6?000 people phoned her over a period of three weeks. This was a cry for help from those who were desperate about their own thyroid-related problems. It made Mariëtte realise that she had stumbled upon a hidden epi