One of the most common health concerns we address in our office is low thyroid. According to the Journal of Metabolic and Endocrine Disorders, 90% of hypothyroidism (low thyroid) is caused by an autoimmune thyroid condition known as Hashimoto‘s Thyroiditis.
What does that mean? It means that your immune system is attacking your body. Like all autoimmune diseases, Hashimoto‘s has a strong connection to females who experience estrogen dominance, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and those with gluten sensitivity. In the case of PCOS, a study reported in the European Journal of Endocrinology 2004, showed that 42.3 percent of women with PCOS had evidence of autoimmune thyroid disease as detected by ultrasound.
Despite the fact that 90% of the time Hashimoto‘s is the primary cause of hypothyroidism, almost no one diagnosed with hypothyroidism is screened to see whether they have this autoimmune condition.
Even if doctors do test for Hashimoto‘s, there is not much that traditional medicine does to address why your immune system has "gone rouge" in the first place. The standard medical approach totally ignores the immune system (a.k.a. the cause of the problem). It just concentrates on supplying the hormones that the broken down thyroid is not sufficiently making (the effect).
The standard medical treatment consists of thyroid hormone replacement, usually a drug called Synthroid. Although hormone replacement does supply the missing hormones that the defective thyroid is not adequetly producing, it does nothing to stop the body's immune system from attacking itself. It isn’t addressing the whole problem.
For those seeking to do all they can to save their thyroid, this approach is greatly insufficient. The thyroid is an important component of the endocrine system, which is the complex organization of tissues that make and regulate hormones. When the thyroid fails, it places great stress upon all the hormone producing tissues of the body: the pituitary gland, the adrenal glands, the pancreas, and the ovaries.
But, it gets worse… Autoimmune disease is a frightening situation. The longer you have it, the worse it becomes, and the more likely it will trigger other autoimmune diseases.
When we design natural protocols to calm the immune system’s attack on the body and we support the thyroid... the standard blood work of measuring Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), T4 and T3 becomes totally inadequete. We have found that the key to managing any autoimmune problem, including Hashimoto‘s, is to examine the whole picture and not just bits and pieces. That is why we leave no stone unturned in diagnosing why your thyroid is breaking down. This leads to the most specific treatment.
That is why I use very specific blood tests, which may include some of the following:
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH): the message sent from a gland in the brain (pituitary) to the thyroid
Free T3: an important hormone produced mostly in the liver and digestive tract. This is considered to be the more biologically active hormone of the thyroid
Free T4: another important hormone produced by the thyroid gland
Thyroid Antibodies (TPO & TGB): these antibodies are only present when you have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis
Reverse T3: this is a wayward (or "reverse") version of T3 and can cause problems
Total T4: this is a reflection of how much total T4 hormone is in the blood
Free Thyroxine Index (FTI): this is a calculation of how much thyroxine is in the blood
Resin T3 Uptake: the test measures the unsaturated binding sites of the thyroid proteins
Complete Metabolic Profile (CMP): checks electrolytes, blood sugar, and many other markers that can trigger autoimmunity or block your thyroid from working correctly
Lipid Panel: cholesterol, LDL, HDL, etc can be related to hormone dysfunction
Complete Blood Count (CBC) w/differential: this checks your cell counts - white blood cells & red blood cells. It also let's us know whether you have enough vitamin B6, folic acid, B12, iron & oxygen which are essential to a properly working thyroid.
(12 percent of Hashimoto‘s patients also have pernicious anemia, another
autoimmune disease wherein the body attacks a substance called intrinsic factor. This substance is necessary for the absorption of vitamin B12.)
Based on your PERSONAL BLOOD CHEMISTRY, we can then determine the correct strategy to get you doing better.
For more information or to schedule a consultation, Call us at 561-369-0808.