LifeCare Chiropractic

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Thyroid

RISK OF THYROID CANCER AFTER HYSTERECTOMY – (02-17-03)

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Increased risk of thyroid cancer among women with hysterectomies

The rate of hysterectomies is surprisingly high. Personally, I believe that it is much easier for obstetricians to just remove the “offending” organ rather than balance out the physiology that is unbalanced. Hormonal problems are very common and can be strongly related to lifestyle factors. With this study, we see that risk of thyroid cancer is increased for the two years after hysterectomy w/ bilateral ovary removal (oopherectomy). To me, this means that, whatever was causing the female problems was not fixed by the surgery (big shocker…), and that imbalance of physiology or toxicity also was toxic to the thyroid.

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Online

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LOW T3 SYNDROME CAUSE DEATH DUE TO HEART DISEASE – (02-17-03)

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Low-T3 Syndrome – Strong Predictor of Death from Heart Disease

It’s nice to see some researchers focusing on T3. Keep in mind that the thyroid produces mainly T4, which has a much lower activity than T3. The T4 makes it to the target tissues such as liver and muscle and gets converted to T3 where it’s needed. Well, that conversion is dependent upon several factors (nutritional, cortisol levels, estrogen levels…) and many people with thyroid problems are given synthetic T4 (synthroid, levothyroxine) and their blood levels look good but they still have all the signs and symptoms of hypothroidism. These people may underconvert T4 to T3.

Circulation — Abstracts: Iervasi et al. 107 (5): 708

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HEALTHY THYROID FUNCTION MAINTAINS LONG, HEALTHY LIFE – (01-09-06)

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Thyroid Hormone Concentrations, Disease, Physical Function, and Mortality in Elderly Men

I recall a study several years back that dealt with the oldest old and anti-thyroidal antibodies. Now, everyone has some degree of autoimmunity to our own tissues, and this reaction increases as we get older. In that particular study, the oldest old has less autoimmunity to their own thyroid.

This study again points to the importance of healthy thyroid function in maintaining long, healthy life. So the question arises, when someone starts to experience thyroid dysfunction in their 20s, and they are put on thyroid hormone without any type of evaluation into WHY they are having thyroid problems, are we depriving them of quality of life in their later years?

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HAVE MULTIPLE SMALL MEALS BUT DO NOT SKIP THEM – (01-17-05)

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BENEFICIAL METABOLIC EFFECTS OF REGULAR MEAL FREQUENCY ON DIETARY THERMOGENESIS, INSULIN SENSITIVITY, AND FASTING LIPID PROFILES IN HEALTHY OBESE WOMEN

This concept is one of the hardest to get across to patients trying to lose weight. So many patients have tried to lose weight by skipping meals (especially breakfast) in an attempt to lower the number of calories taken in. But the body responds to this method by conserving calories as well as slowing metabolism via a reduction in thyroid function.

Multiple small meals throughout the day ensures that the body’s metabolism believes another meal is coming soon and thereby does not conserve.

Read entire article here

 

DO YOU KNOW THAT INFLAMMATION PRODUCES FATIGUE? – (02-04-08)

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TNF-alpha suppresses the expression of clock genes by interfering with E-box mediated transciption

In case you’re confused by this title, don’t worry–so am I. But the take home message from this mouse study is that TNF-alpha, a cytokine that produces inflammation in the body, interferes with the body’s sleep wake cycle, produces fatigue.

Fatigue is a very common complaint for patients presenting to their PCP. Unfortunately, the evaluation of fatigue in the typical doctors’ office does not extend beyond looking for anemia and checking the thyroid. Yet, these two problems don’t scrape the surface of what creates fatigue. Adrenal issues need to be looked at, and, as we see in this study, inflammation is a major player as well.

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RISK OF THYROID IN INDIVIDUALS WITH CELIAC DISEASE – (09-01-09)

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Risk of Thyroid Disease in Individuals with Celiac Disease

Again speaking to the disconnect between research and clinical practice, I have had more than my fair share of patients presenting with autoimmune thyroiditis and hypothyroidism that have gone to drastic lengths to manage their condition. Radioactive destruction, surgery, lifetime medication use. I do not believe I have had a single one alerted to the strong association between celiac disease and thyroid problems.

So, not only do we destroy a rather important gland in the process, we miss the opportunity to guide the patient in avoiding a condition that will shorten their lives, because untreated celiac disease increases all cause mortality. The problem is it that this link has been known in the medical literature for at least a decade.

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ARE YOU TAKING SYNTHROID FOR YOUR THYROID PROBLEMS?

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Let’s get something straight right out of the box. The human body is designed with a brilliance that none can truly understand. The interactions between the cells and organ systems are intricate beyond measure. Oh–except for the thyroid. That goes out in your 20’s. 

What?

If your heart or liver or brain or kidneys were “giving out” in the 3rd decade of life alarms bells everywhere would be going off and you better darn well believe mainstream medicine is going to attempt to figure out why. But not so with the thryoid. Low levels on your bloodwork? Your doctor shakes his head, says these things happen and gives you your lifelong prescription for Synthroid.

So where’s the problem? The problem is that your thyroid is slowing down for a reason. Very often it has to do with toxic exposure. The thyroid has been called the “yellow canary” of the human body. It’s the organ that takes the initial beating when the body is exposed to allergies, heavy metals and environmental toxicants. Unless we try to identify the “why” of the thyroid failure, we’ve missed a valuable opportunity to identify and remove an exposure that the patient is experiencing that is harming their health. Sure–it may be “merely” the thyroid today, but in 20 years it’s very likely to be cancer, heart disease or dementia.

So what kinds of toxins or situations are known to affect the thyroid? This is by no means a comprehensive list, but here are a few:

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, we need to go into a little thyroid physiology lessons. The thyroid produces two hormones, T3 and T4. T3 has a very short half life and gets broken down in the bloodstream relatively quickly. So the body, in its brilliance, makes primarily T4 in the thyroid and then the individual tissues that need T3 convert it when and where it is need.

The variable factor here is the conversion of T4 to T3.  It is not always an efficient process. Things like stress, selenium deficiency can slow the conversion to T3, leaving you with symptoms of hypothyroidism but normal lab values. This is why supplementation with T3 (such as Cytomel or Armour) is trickier but will likely produce better outcomes. This particular article further supports this concept, demonstrating that those taking T3 achieved better body weight and better lipid levels.

RESISTS STAINS BUT DESTROYS THE THYROID?

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RESISTS STAINS BUT DESTROYS THE THYROID?  Chemicals in Scotchguard have been found to affect thyroid function.  But this is no big shocker–the thyroid has always been considered the “yellow canary” of the human body when it comes to toxin exposure.  This means that chemicals in the body will affect thyroid function long before the exposure shows up as something like diabetes or cancer.

I’ve NEVER understood why, as brilliantly as the human body is made, we accept that someones thyroid “gives out” in our 20s or 30s and just put them on thyroid hormone instead of figuring out the answer. Not identifying the problem may very well allow toxic exposures to create things like cancer years later.