Dr Chris Steele MBE

Dr Chris Steele has been a GP for over 40 years, a TV doctor for 25 years and is the resident doctor on ITV's This Morning. He was also voted Health Journalist of the Year in 2007 and has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Guild of Health Writers in 2010. He is also an MBE.

Dr Chris qualified as a doctor in 1968 and has worked as a GP in South Manchester since 1970. Chris became interested in treating his patients who smoked in the early 1970’s and became a pioneer in this field. Chris is now recognised as an international expert in smoking cessation and nicotine addiction.

Dr Chris has over 10 years experience as a journalist and makes regular contributions to magazines and papers nationwide. 

Dr Chris has his own website and newsletter which provide people with information and knowledge about health, including how to lose weight, stopping smoking and lead a healthier more informed life. These are Dr Chris' specialist areas and he has written books and articles covering these fields including ‘Quit Smoking with the Nicotine Phase out Program’, and in 1989 the ‘Fat Farewell Diet’. He is also the author of ‘Babies and Younger Children’.

Dr Chris is married to Monica and has four children two girls and two boys. His eldest daughter is a linguist/translator and his other daughter is a teacher who is also training as an occupational therapist.

His son Matt is a musician and plays for the popular group Brand New Heavies while his son Andrew is an Olympic athlete specializing in the 400 meters.

Dr Chris says, “I love my work! And that involves bringing important issues to the attention of every one of my viewers, listeners and readers.”

Michael Rosen

Michael was born in 1946 in Harrow, Middlesex and went to state schools before attending medical school for a year. After medical school he went to Oxford University, where he studied English. On leaving university, he worked at BBC for three years.

His first children’s book was published in 1974 and although he mostly writes for children, he does other projects too. He writes plays, poems and performs in schools, libraries, colleges, and does a lot of broadcasting on radio and for schools TV. He also teaches courses at the London Metropolitan University.

Michael has obtained a BA, MA and PhD and has won several awards for his writing, including the Eleanor Farjeon Award for outstanding Contribution to Childrens Literature (1997); the Talkies Award for the best poetry tape of the year; the Parent Magazine Award for Best Picture Book of the Year and the Glenfiddick Award for the Best Radio Programme of the Year on the subject of food.

His interest in thyroid disease was the result of his own hypothyroidism and he has told his story in his book called "This is Not My Nose" (Penguin).

His first symptoms appeared in the late sixties although he wasn’t actually diagnosed until 1981 – probably Hashimoto’s. He takes 200mcg every day, with no apparent side effects – lucky man!

Piers Hernu

Interests: Music, going to gigs, fishing, travel and horse racing

Career: Piers studied law at University before becoming a traded options broker in The City. He then left to go travelling and ended up spending eight months in a Nepalese prison for gold smuggling.

On his return he wrote his story for both The Independent and Loaded and subsequently became a journalist. He then launched, and was the award winning editor of, Front magazine for four years (featured in BBC2’s Trouble Between The Covers) before joining FHM as a columnist and then Editor At Large.

Nowadays he works for various publications but mostly as a feature writer for The Mail On Sunday's Live Magazine and has made regular contributions to Newsnight, Daybreak, This Morning, BBC Breakfast News, Richard and Judy, Sky News, Five News, Littlejohn, Radio 1,2,4 and 5, Talksport and numerous other chat show/documentary/talking heads and radio shows where he is most frequently asked for opinions on: laddism, new magazines, sex, gender wars, modern men, drinking and changing cultural trends.

Peirs tells his thyroid story on the Thyroid UK Web of Stories Channel

Lyn: Piers was diagnosed and treated by Dr Barry Durrant-Peatfield.

Lisa Francesca Nand (Chessy)

Lisa Francesca Nand (known to friends as Chessy) became a Patron of Thyroid UK in October 2006.  A broadcaster and journalist, she suffered for years with an underactive thyroid gland.

At the age of 21 when at university and working as a part-time model Chessy started to get palpitations and panic attacks and went to see several GP’s who told her there was nothing wrong.  Several months later she put on three stone in a handful of weeks and noticed her neck was looking swollen.

By this time she realised she may have a thyroid problem but doctors still refused to take her seriously as time after time the blood tests came back normal. She was told to exercise and eat healthily but she could barely get out of bed.

It took a further two years of exhaustion, depression and desperation before the blood tests eventually showed she did indeed have an underactive thyroid gland and she was prescribed thyroxine.

Chessy, now back to a fit and healthy size 10-12, describes herself as managing reasonably well but constantly needing to monitor her energy levels. Her thyroxine dosage has needed to be increased regularly. She says it is a fight to be fit and if she can prevent anyone from going through what she did, she will.

Having had to put her presenting career on hold for a few years whilst she dealt with her health problems, Chessy now co-presents a popular talk show on the UK’s largest commercial national radio station, Talksport, and is regularly published in the national press.

Chessy talks about her Thyroid Journey on
the Thyroid UK Web of Stories Channel

Read Chessy’s full story as published in the Daily Mail:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/
health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=404724&in_page_id=1774