The Triangle of
Health: Part lll The
Thyroid
In my on-going articles on
the Triangle of Health, I will first discuss the importance of hormone balance
and the symptoms of imbalance. I would
personally like to thank Oprah for
covering the topic of hormones on her show recently. This has helped educate millions of women and
men on the roles that hormones play in our bodies and how balancing them can
restore normalcy to their lives and prevent ill health, even cancer. A case in point…..after watching the Oprah
show, a 64 yr old woman called me and stated that she did not realize she even
had hormones after menopause. It was
very exciting for her to learn there was help for the symptoms she was
experiencing, giving her hope of an increased quality of life.
Now let’s begin with Symptoms….Are you experiencing one or more of these?
Breast tenderness
Bloating
Headaches
Backaches
Irritability
Emotional
Irregular periods
Heavy bleeding or fatigue prior to your period
Hot flashes/night sweats
Brain fog
Memory problems
Mood swings,
Insomnia
Weight gain or inability to lose weight
Fatigue
Constipation
Tendency to be chilly
Cold hands and feet, stress
Blood sugar irregularities
Cravings for sweets or salt
Hair loss or unwanted hair growth
Low sex drive
Vaginal dryness
Depression
Anxiety/ panic attacks
ADD
Racing thoughts
Heart palpitations
Adult acne
Joint pain/stiffness.
How much time and joy have your hormone imbalances
robbed you of? Well, now you know that
it isn’t your mind….there is an actual cause and a very real solution for
regaining balance. But, I also want to
address those of you who say you ‘feel’ great and have very few, if any, of
these symptoms; or you may have some,
but they aren’t severe enough to make you seek help. I think the biggest mistake that people make
is to equate how they ‘feel’ with their level of health. You can have subclinical diseases or
imbalances that have not progressed to the point where your body is manifesting
symptoms. We have all known people who
have had cancer, heart attacks, strokes, etc who had no prior symptoms. Prevention and early detection are always the
key for managing our health.
For many, the topic of hormones is
frustrating, scary and complicated. You
may have gone to your Dr. because you have PMS symptoms every month prior to
your period. You are told this is normal,
but are put on a Birth Control pill to alleviate the symptoms. Since this is
common practice, and many of your friends have PMS, you go along with this
treatment; or, you may have begun to
have hot flashes or night sweats and your practitioner gives you a prescription
for a toxic, synthetic hormone replacement medication. Perhaps you’re in your late 30s or early 40s
and are already having symptoms of perimenopause. Your practitioner dismisses your complaints
as an early ‘change of life’ and tells you not to worry. Once again, a prescription for synthetic hormones
is given. For many, your bodies cannot
tolerate these drugs; or, maybe you have enough knowledge to understand the
dangers and don’t want to put them in your body. You need an alternative. But,
where do you turn?
There are so many ‘experts’ who have popped
out of the woodwork since Bioidentical Hormones (BIH) are becoming the
trend. Most don’t order the proper tests
or use the most effective methods. It’s
easy to spend a lot of money unnecessarily and still not get the accurate
information you need to successfully treat hormone imbalances. This misdiagnosis or improper treatment is
why there are millions of women (and many men) living a poor quality of life
and are wandering from practitioner to practitioner trying to find the cause of
their symptoms and get a remedy. I have seen so many in my office who are on
antidepressants due to the lack of an accurate diagnosis.
I have specialized in women’s
health for the past 32 years, and have devoted the last decade to developing an
expertise in hormone therapy, utilizing various modalities of testing and
treatment with bioidentical hormones.
------------------------------------------------- NEXT ARTICLE RELATED TO HORMONES ----------------------------------------
In the last issue I discussed the importance of hormone balance and the symptoms of hormone imbalance. In this, and future issues, I will explain the different glands of the Endocrine system.
The major glands of the Endocrine system that I will be
discussing are the Thyroid, Adrenals and the Reproductive organs (Ovaries and
Testes). These glands release hormones,
the body’s chemical messengers, into the blood stream. They transfer information and instructions to
specific cells. The hormones produced by these glands can be accurately tested
and treated with Bioidentical Hormones (BIHs).
I will begin with the Thyroid gland. It is located at the front base of the neck and controls how quickly the body burns energy, makes proteins and how sensitive the body should be to other hormones. The Thyroid produces primarily 2 hormones, T4 (99.9% ) and T3 (.1%). Even though T4 is quantitatively secreted at much higher levels, it should be regarded as a pro-hormone that requires conversion to T3 to become biologically active. I would refer to T3 as the active Thyroid hormone. These hormones regulate the rate of metabolism, heart rate, growth, blood pressure, body temperature, digestion, play a vital role in our immune system and are involved in the circadian rhythms that govern sleep, as well as other essential functions.
Hyperthyroidism is a condition where the Thyroid gland becomes overactive and produces an excessive amount of hormones. The symptoms of Hyperthyroidism are due to the increase in the metabolic rate in the body. These include: increased heart rate, excessive sweating, increase in bowel function and possible diarrhea, weight loss, intolerance to heat, fatigue, nervousness, menstrual irregularity/scanty flow, decreased ability to concentrate/focus and tremors. In the beginning you do not have to manifest all symptoms to have this condition. There may also be a visual enlargement of the gland, known as a goiter.
Hypothyroidism, a deficiency of thyroid hormones, produces the opposite symptoms. These include: weight gain or inability to lose weight, hair loss, constipation, low body temperature, get chilled easily,
fatigue, feeling tired even with plenty of sleep, depression, dry skin and hair, brittle nails, muscle aches/ joint pain, increased cholesterol level, brain fog, poor memory, sleep problems and decreased concentration.
Hypothyroidism is by far the most common thyroid dysfunction. It is the most overlooked, misdiagnosed and undertreated condition in women. The majority of practitioners test only the TSH, a hormone produced by the Pituitary gland when the T4 level drops. There are many factors that can prevent the TSH from elevating, such as high cortisol levels (adrenal stress), low serotonin levels, and a problem with the hypothalamus or pituitary gland. That is why it is so often falsely normal.
There are a number of reasons a person could be Hypothyroid. * We live in an immensely toxic world. All of our organs/glands are overwhelmed with chemicals and heavy metals. They are breaking down our body on a continuous level. In all the years I’ve been doing Nutritional Healing work, I’ve never tested a normal thyroid (using Nutrition Response Testing). The majority of the population has heavy metals and/or chemicals in their thyroid gland, though I have found viruses, yeast and even parasites in it. So, the condition of the thyroid gland itself plays a large role in its ability to function properly.
*Estrogen dominance, an imbalance between Estrogen and Progesterone levels, is a major trigger for Thyroid problems. The majority of women are Estrogen dominant throughout their lives, as I will discuss in the next issue. Pregnancy, Perimenopause (the 5-15 yrs before Menopause) and Menopause are also triggers for Thyroid dysfunction due to the imbalance of hormones.
So, let’s say that the Hypothalamus and Pituitary are
functioning well and TSH is being produced to maintain normal T4 levels. That will all appear normal on a lab
test. But, what if the T4 is not
converting into T3 ( the active thyroid hormone, as explained above). There are many reasons why this conversion
does not take place sufficiently. Since
most of the T4 to T3 conversion takes place in the liver, and most people have toxic, congested livers, it prevents this from occurring
properly. There are also many nutrients
needed for the conversion, and most people are deficient in one or more of
these. But, even if you have the normal
amount of T3 in your blood, you are
probably lacking some of the essential nutrients required to transport it to
the cell and take it up by the receptor to be utilized by the body.
So, in explaining some of the causes of Hypothyroidism, I think it is easy to see why doing just a simple TSH test, the ‘gold standard’ for conventional medicine, misses so many suffering people. Hypothyroidism is an epidemic in this country, largely due to poor nutrition, hormone imbalance and toxicity. There are literally millions of people, the majority being women, who are roaming around trying to find why they have the symptoms they do, because they were told that their thyroid is ‘normal’. And a large amount of those women are prescribed antidepressants because their practitioners are unable to find the root cause of the problem and treat it.
I hope you can now see how vitally important normal Thyroid function is and how it plays an integral part of your overall health. Proper Thyroid testing is essential to treating Thyroid dysfunction. You may not need medication, but merely the appropriate nutrient to assist in converting or transporting the hormones. Once you begin Thyroid medication, your Thyroid will cease to function over time. This is often times completely unnecessary. It is important for women to become educated, thus empowered to make important decisions regarding their health.
In the next issue I will be discussing the sex hormones….Estrogen, Progesterone and Testosterone. And men need to pay attention to this issue, as they’re not just ‘female’ hormones, but have a major impact on men’s health as well.
