Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland located at the base of the front of your neck, just below your Adam's apple. Hormones produced by the thyroid gland have an enormous impact on your health, affecting
all aspects of your metabolism. Thyroid maintains the rate at which your body uses fats and carbohydrates, helps control your body temperature, influence your heart rate and helps regulate the production of protein. Thyroid gland also produces calcitonin, a hormone that regulates the amount of calcium in your blood.
Most of us know about hyperthyroidism - where the thyroid gland becomes over-active. The usual treatment is radioactive iodine to reduce and normalize thyroid function.
Hypothyroidism is much more common than hyperthyroidism, yet most sufferers don’t even know they have the problem. An underactive thyroid develops when the thyroid gland produces too little thyroxine, and it is becoming more prevalent because of our aging population. Typical symptoms include extreme fatigue, aches, constipation, gaining weight (or being unable to take it off), feeling cold, and losing head and eyebrow hair.
Thyroid Disorders Often Misdiagnosed
Approximately 11 million Americans, particularly women over 50, have an underactive thyroid, which can be diagnosed with a simple blood test (we always recommend testing for T3, T4, T-Uptake, and most importantly, TSH). Because symptoms of hypothyroidism can mimic other conditions, incorrect diagnosis and treatment can be serious. If the aforementioned thyroid tests are normal, but symptoms persist, an autoimmune thyroid panel, usually ordered by an endocrinologist, may be necessary.
Iodine Deficiency
One reason for the recent increase in hypothyroidism is the gradual reduction of iodine in our diet. Many people avoid iodine-rich foods, such as salt and eggs, for health reasons. Heavily processed foods may also contain less iodine.
If an iodine deficiency has been detected, and provided it’s not too severe, the patient can reverse the problem with a self-help program that involves consuming more iodine-rich foods, and supplementing with iodine and selenium.
If medication is warranted, we always suggest trying a natural form of thyroxine (such as Armour), before going to synthetic. Natural thyroid medication also addresses T3, while most synthetics do not.
If you have been on synthetic thyroxine (such as Synthroid) for one year, your own thyroid will diminish so that continuation of medication needs to be forever. Most people don't realize this until it is too late. I have had many patients do very well with the natural form. It always leaves the possibility for you to reestablish thyroid function without assistance.
Celiac Disease Linked to Thyroid Disorders
Individuals with celiac disease or even mild gluten intolerance are at significantly increased risk for developing thyroid disorders. Researchers studied the long-term risk of thyroid disease in more than 14,000 individuals diagnosed with celiac disease between 1964 and 2003 and some 68,000 subjects without celiac disease. They found that people with celiac disease had a greater than fourfold increased risk of being diagnosed with hypothyroidism, a threefold increased risk of suffering hyperthyroidism, and a 3.6-fold increased risk of developing thyroiditis. The association was seen in all strata (males, females, children, and adults) according to the study in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Ruling out celiac or gluten intolerance is incredibly important. We have seen this with many clients. Once the damage is done, it is very hard to reverse, so early diagnosis and prevention is of the utmost importance.
Environmental Chemicals May Interfere With Thyroid Function
Over the years, numerous chemicals have been removed from production because of their role in endocrine disruption. Because the Environmental Protection Agency has no long-term studies on most chemicals, thousands more may be affecting us.
Recently, hormone experts at The Endocrine Society said they have gathered a growing body of evidence to show Bisphenol A, also known as BPA, might damage human health through negative epigenetic expression.
BPA, used to stiffen plastic bottles, line cans and make smooth paper receipts. Of course, the FDA's official position is that there is not enough evidence that BPA shows harm. As the evidence mounts, the FDA is beginning to cave.
We all house numerous environmental chemicals in our bodies. The key is to assure that we are passing those chemicals through our bodies (detoxification) and not letting them build up. When excess build up occurs, thyroid dysfunction may result.
Stress
Numerous human and animal studies have demonstrated that psychological and physiologic stressors induce various immunologic changes. Stress affects the immune system either directly or indirectly through the nervous and endocrine systems. These immune modulations may contribute to the development of autoimmunity as well as the susceptibility to autoimmune disease in genetically predisposed individuals. Thus, stress can be one of the environmental factors for thyroid autoimmunity.
Miscellaneous Tidbits
- Raw cruciferous vegetables contain thyroid inhibitors known as goitrogens. People who have hypothyroid dysfunction should limit consumption or steam the vegetables, which significantly reduces the goitrogenic content.
- Excess intake of soy may interfere with thyroid function and thyroid medication, especially for individuals who are iodine deficient. Fish is a great food choice for all thyroid deficiencies.
- If supplementing with selenium above what is in a multivitamin/mineral, its important to also supplement with extra iodine. Click here for our suggestions for recommended amounts of iodine.
- If you are taking thyroid medication, all minerals, fiber supplements, and foods containing large amounts of minerals and fiber must be taken at least one hour away from thyroid medication.
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