- Another egregious medical irony imposes itself, reader.
Hypothryroidism was discovered in the 1800's and was generally a result
of iodine deficiency. Now; however, even with our better understanding
of the causes of low thyroid and even with the advent of iodized salt...
the irony exists that iodine deficiency is once again on the rise and that
low thyroid is worse than ever!
-
- The causes for this deficiency are reported as unclear;
however... many people ...are... following their Doctor's "orders"
and avoiding iodized salt. This could be a contributing cause. Additionally,
much of the time, research shows, we don't make use of the iodine that
we do consume! Moreover, sometimes the hormones that are manufactured
don't get utilized, and in far too many cases, too much supplemental iodine
in the form of iodized salt can not only cause hyperthyroidism (high thyroid)
it can have a reverse effect and actually cause hypothyroidism (low thyroid)...
much like an iodine deficiency.
-
- This is bad news, especially for women, when you consider
90% of low thyroid is in females and that it is estimated that fully 1/3
of women over 55 have low thyroid! These are astonishing numbers!
-
- Unfortunately, many of these persons go undiagnosed!
I can't prove it ...but it sure looks like it is done on purpose... Why?
-
- Why... to generate greater revenues in the form of the
future treating of subsequent diseases... caused by low thyroid...? I
know this sounds crazily conspiratorial, reader, but nothing else seems
to fit... Seriously, the only other excuse would be gross incompetence
or out of control malfeasance!
-
- Before we discuss the key players (and their particular
transgressions?), here are some preliminary data: The thyroid produces
ubiquitous and powerful hormones... T-4, T-3 (indirectly), and to a much
lesser degree, T-1 and T-2. Life style impacts hugely on the production
and utilization of these substances.
-
- The T-4 and T-3 hormones regulate body temperature and
metabolic rate (biochemical reactivity) of every cell in your body! Thyroid
hormones are made from the amino acid tyrosine and 3 or 4 iodine atoms,
depending on whether it is T-3 or T-4, respectively. If these aforementioned
hormone levels are low or they are not being utilized for one reason or
another (...and there are many reasons...) this causes you to feel cold,
irritable and fatigued because less energy is being produced to provide
for warmth and vitality... then you get fat, depressed, muscle weakness,
painful joints, goiters, brittle hair and nails, loss of sex drive, high
cholesterol / triglycerides, foggy brain, and the list goes on... providing
for, the reader may notice, an open ended cornucopia of pharmaceutical
sales opportunities regarding third party diseases facilitated by low thyroid.
-
- This dramatic and suspicious increase in the occurrence
of thyroid problems is primarily due to 3 factors... as I see it...
-
- 1. You can test normal on virtually all thyroid tests
and still have low thyroid. This is because either the test is, at least
partially, bogus or the normal range is so broad that you can be "in
the green," (the safe zone) and still feel miserable because of low
thyroid. The MD's standard Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) test illustrates
both of these problems.
-
- First, the test is bogus because if it shows you have
low thyroid... then you do. But, if it shows normal, you very likely still
have hypothyroid... if you have the symptoms for hypothyroid! Second,
the test "safe" range is .5 to 5.5, so over 5.5 is low thyroid.
Contrarily, many people only feel good at 1 to 2...(!) and start feeling
bad at 4 to 5, still, supposedly well within the safe range! To digress...
because of this, the upper limit for the TSH test will very likely be lowered
very soon to about 3.3...
-
- The other 2 tests making up the AMA's recommended Thyroid
Panel (Total T-4 & T-3 Uptake) don't tell you very much, really --
you can easily have low thyroid and pass these tests! That's why low thyroid
symptoms along with the Basal Temperature Test (BTT) is reason enough to
be proactive by taking the other tests and so giving a more complete picture...
and/or (a key point!), finding a Doctor who will try some natural therapy
even if you pass all the "mainstream" tests, just mentioned.
-
- A test may be taken at home to find out if the thyroid
is low: The Basal Temperature. Test (BTT)!
-
- For four days keep a thermometer by your bedside. As
soon as you wake up in the morning put the thermometer in your armpit for
ten minutes. You must do this before you get up. If you get up first you
will not get an accurate reading. If your temperature runs below 97.8 then
you most likely have low thyroid. It is important to shake the thermometer
after each use.
-
- Focusing on women for a moment, if going through menopause,
the BTT may read normal even if you have low thyroid... because temps run
a little high and fluctuate with regard to women so effected. Also many
low thyroid & menopausal symptoms are the same! Consequently, one
might try treating the menopause first with natural progesterone or a combo
progesterone/estrogen ...if after a while you still have the symptoms,
most likely you do have low thyroid, which you can then have a Doctor treat.
If you then get your thyroid hormones in balance it will give you the *zip*
you need to breeze through the menopause...one effects and/or exacerbates
the other.
-
- 2. Because doctors and the pharmaceutical industry are
in the "sickness" (...NOT wellness!) business, they make more
money not properly diagnosing your low thyroid, so you will stay sick and
develop other ailments (...like heart disease?). Then, reader, they can
put you on cholesterol lowering drugs for the rest of your increasingly
miserable life!
-
- Isn't it ironic that if low thyroid causes you to get
heart disease (HD) or MS... the drugs that you are then prescribed to treat
those diseases (cholesterol drugs & Interferon) make your low thyroid,
still, worse? Then you need even more expensive drugs to treat the HD
& MS. This is a vicious circle of egregious and seemingly apparent
design... in my opinion.
-
- Plus, when they are forced to treat your low thyroid,
they generally use Synthroid (a synthetic T-4) which will likely do nothing
to improve your condition. You probably need the more active hormone T-3.
The thyroid produces T-4, but very little T-3 -- 80% comes from T-4 conversions
to T-3 in the liver. But, if T-4 conversion is impaired, then your MD
piling on more T-4 doesn't help, and will actually hurt because of very
possible side effects... like headaches, irritability, nervousness, etc.
-
- 3. There are numerous powerful corporations that either
profit from you being sick, or they sell products that actually make you
sick to facilitate the preceding. Yes. The sad part is that we have long
had the knowledge to prevent or alleviate thyroid disorders, pretty much
altogether, but the dollar gets in the way. Here are some of those with
the biggest axe to grind:
-
- A. Pharmaceutical industry & Doctors -- there are
easily 3 or 4 dozen popular drugs that impair thyroid function. Things
like NSAIDs (Aspirin, etc.) Hydrocortisone, Interferon, Beta Blockers,
and some cholesterol lowering drugs just to name a few. More significant
though, are the future sales of pharmaceuticals to treat the subsequent
diseases caused by low thyroid ie, Heart Disease, MS, Lupus, Arthritis,
etc, etc....
-
- 1). Doctors -- MD's don't get rich treating low thyroid
successfully, but the kick-backs from treating the lifelong chronic diseases
caused by LT, brings in the big money... (See LTR #10...)
-
- 2). Psychiatrists -- ...Had you ever noticed that all
the medical pundits dissecting the rash of crimes caused by Post Partum
Depression (PPD) or more accurately, Post Partum Psychosis, never even
consider that the cause could be nutritional...? Not a one.
-
- For example: an Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) Omega 3 or
mineral/trace mineral deficiency (when you consider that the baby leeches
these things from the mother's body)... Frankly reader, any doctor who
says these deficiencies cannot cause debilitating depression is a liar
or an idiot! Back to low thyroid -- much like menopause, pregnancy requires
additional thyroid hormones. So, if a woman is cooking along in that gray
area where she has a slightly low thyroid, then she enters menopause or
gets pregnant... ...she's likely to crash down into full-blown hypothyroidism...
You know the rest... The low thyroid induced depression results in these
murdered babies we hear about... not to put too fine a point on it.
-
- How does this happen? Here is a hypothetical situation:
A woman with four or five children whom she is home schooling (a high
stress endeavor!) seeks psychiatric help for depression and fatigue just
after having a baby. The doctor gives her the standard AMA recommended
Thyroid Panel (TSH, total T-4, T-3 uptake...) which all come back very
normal. Naturally, and without a second (holistic) thought, the doctor
moves on, gladly, to expensive, powerful, and mind altering drugs... ever
attended by mind numbing psychobabble and med-speak (...just think happy
thoughts, sufferer!) both of which very likely exacerbate her condition...
-
- Had the *doctor* conducted a Free T-3 test, it would
have shown that the T-4 hormone is not converting successfully to the active
(usable) form T-3 hormone. Then the Doctor could prescribe Armour Desiccated
Thyroid Hormone, containing natural T-4 & T-3... or even a synthetic
T-3, forgetting for a moment that the natural seems to work better (probably
because of the synergistic effect of small amounts of naturally occurring
T-1 & T-2 contained within). ...AND, heaven forbid, the Doctor could
try to determine the nutritional deficiency and/or the toxic environmental
culprits that are driving down her thyroid in the first place... ...things
like, oh... ...margarine, tap water, poly food oil, swallowing fluoride
toothpaste... and 40 or 50 more things -- some of which we are discussing
here, could be the aforementioned culprits.
-
- Also -- great physical or emotional stress (like home
schooling 4 or 5 kids) can cause Wilson's Syndrome. This is where the
T-4 is converted to the not so desirable REVERSE T-3 (RT-3), not the active
T-3 that is needed. RT-3 is only undesirable when in excess -- normally
60% of the total T-4 is converted to RT-3 to clear away excess T-4 by converting
RT-3 to T-2... then to T-1... where it is then eliminated from the body
in 24 hours. This excess RT-3 exacerbates low thyroid by using up the
enzymes needed to convert T-4 to the active T-3. This requires a more
expensive REVERSE T-3 Test... that many insurance companies, again, very
suspiciously, won't cover. See how the concern for profit's dollar actually
kills little babies?
-
- Further, did you know this? You have heard (or experienced
yourself when on a starvation diet) that your body starts conserving calories...
...so it becomes increasingly difficult to lose weight? This is because
starvation is a form of stress that causes more T-4 to convert to RT-3
which slows metabolism and so aids survival during periods of natural famine!
So, the evolutionary safeguard for hard times... is the self-same mechanism
causing an over-stressed (...and medically betrayed!) mother to kill her
own children! Not part of God's plan, I should think.
-
- B. Chemical industry -- There are dozens of home, farm,
and industrial chemicals that cause or exacerbate low thyroid. Examples
are PCBs, DDT, Herbicides, Insecticides, Fungicides, Lubricants, adhesives,
and this list, also, continues on and on and on...
-
- C. Water supply and tooth paste (TP) -- Because both
chlorine and fluorine found in tap-water are iodine mimics, they block
iodine receptor sites... resulting in hypothyroid. The fluorine in tap-water,
TP, etc., are fluorides. These are binary compounds composed of a fluorine
atom and another atom like sodium, calcium, hydrogen, etc. The sodium fluoride
in tap water and most toothpaste is a very toxic form (...NEVER Let a child
swallow fluoride tooth paste). Here are just a few of the things that
fluoride does to you:
-
- One) ...Fluoride attacks immune proteins so they don't
recognize body proteins, resulting in autoimmune disease, and in particular
autoimmune hypothyroidism -- Hashimotto's Disease.
-
- Two) ...Slows the process where iodine is attached to
tyrosine to make the two thyroid hormones T-4 and T-3.
-
- Three) ...Causes a G protein to switch off the uptake
of the active thyroid hormone into the cell.
-
- Four) ...Fluoride inhibits TSH output from the pituitary
gland, thus reducing the thyroid hormone output.
-
- D. Poly food oil industry -- Rancid Poly oils like soy
and corn are a major cause of low thyroid because oxidized oils impair
T-4 to T-3 conversion. See "Fat Facts" to understand why your
poly food oil is rancid and toxic when you bring it home from the store!
-
- E. Sugar and refined grains -- not only do refined carbs
convert to glycogen and then to triglycerides, they also suppress thyroid
hormone levels...
-
- F. Hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) industry -- Trans
fat inhibits conversion of T-4 to T-3, ultimately decreasing metabolism
and basal temperature. The HVO industry has the added distinction of a
no-holds-bared program for the demonization of unrefined coconut oil...
which is a crime of colossal abomination! Medium Chain Triglycerides
(MCTs), found in tropical oils, have the magical capacity to do the exact
opposite of trans fat! In other words, MCTs in coconut oil increase conversion
of T-4 to T-3. Obviously, Doctors and dieticians are "in the tank"
for the HVO and food oil industries because they are always screaming about
the evils of coconut oil. Nothing could be further from the truth, reader!
-
- G. Electrical power plants and fish -- Both of these
create a mercury poisoning problem. Power plants spew it out and the fish
eat it up. Mercury displaces selenium which is vital for T-4 production
and conversion of T-4 to T-3.
-
- H. Tea -- God knows I hate this one, but tea (both green
and black) suck huge amounts of fluoride out of the ground & water,
and even the air. You have to look carefully to find either organic tea
or extracts that come from remote, fluoride free, areas of the world, and
must say so on the label. If you have LT symptoms or test positive for
LT, then I would steer clear of cheap, non-organic tea.
-
- I. Dentists -- Mercury amalgam fillings suppress the
thyroid. Here's an interesting fact -- the mercury amalgam filling material
must be handled as a toxic substance... before it is put in your mouth,
and again treated as a toxin if it is ever removed from your mouth... so
the only time it is considered safe is while it is... in your mouth...
What's up with that?
-
- A person would be well advised as they get older to do
the things necessary to head off a low thyroid. If one is already experiencing
symptoms it would be smart to have a holistic practitioner to monitor your
thyroid, and making those recommendations regarding the nutritional, supplemental,
and environmental things necessary to get your hormone levels back to normal.
If, like much of the country, there are no holistic practitioners available...
then you need to find a medical doctor who understands how to use all the
thyroid tests, and is willing to prescribe natural as opposed to synthetic
thyroid hormones. This is fundamentally what this paper is about.
-
- Also, he must be willing to try small to moderate doses
of natural T-4 / T-3, even if all the tests are normal, solely based upon
symptoms and the BTT. The preceding is key.
-
- Here are the tests you need for a more complete diagnosis:
-
- 1). TSH -- can isolate if LT is because of a thyroid
problem or a pituitary malfunction. If even slightly high but still in
limits, you very likely have border line low thyroid if you have other
symptoms.
-
- 2). Free T-4 -- the Free hormone levels (Free T-4 &
Free T-3) are the only accurate measure of active thyroid hormones. The
Total T-4 test doesn't really tell you what you need. A low Free T-4 score
probably means low thyroid.
-
- 3). Free T-3 -- Low FT-3 probably means LT.
-
- 4). Reverse T-3 -- If RT-3 is high, and the person is
not fasting, then they are under extreme stress and probably do have low
thyroid.
-
- 5). Antibodies Test -- If all above are normal then an
Antibodies Test high score will indicate autoimmune LT, like Hashimoto's
Disease
-
- The following are nutrients and supplements to prevent
or treat low thyroid:
-
- A. Iodine -- Use sea salt instead of the potentially
negative refined iodized salt. Iodized refined table salt in excess can
led to both high & low thyroid as mentioned earlier. Sea salt also
has iodine but in proportional trace amounts with the other 70+ trace minerals
causes a synergistic effect. The label must say "unrefined & nothing
added" (it is the additives like Anti-caking that are most harmful).
Sea Salt is off-white-- if it's snow-white, it's refined. Also Sea-veggies
like sea weed and kelp are good. Don't go crazy; however, with the liquid
kelp. This is because there is no good test for iodine, so take a moderate
dose (100mcg) and see what happens. If you start feeling anxious, nervous,
clammy or you develop "Betty Davis Eyes" - then you've went too
far and are showing hyPERthyroid symptoms. The bulging eyes is usually
a later symptom. TPO Test -- Thyroid Peroxidase Test can indirectly show
an iodine & selenium deficiency.
-
- Some iodine rich foods are: 1). Eggs - cheap eggs are
higher in omega 6 (anti-thyroid), cage-free eggs are higher in omega 3
(pro-thyroid). 2). Sea veggies - seaweed & kelp (powdered kelp can
be used as a salt substitute). 3). Cranberry - only use health food store
quality, 'no sugar added', highly concentrated juice and sweeten with Stevia.
-
- B. EFA's -- 1). Fish Oil and/or Cod Liver Oil -- to
get the more complex Omega 3's (EPA & DHA) take a fairly LG divided
dose...4 to 9 grams daily. 2). Flax Seed (ground) or Flax Seed Oil --
to get the less complex Omega 3 (ALA) take a moderate dose divided...2
to 6 grams of oil or 1 to 3 tablespoons ground. 3). Borage or Black Currant
Oil -- to get the more complex Omega 6 (GLA) take as directed on label.
Avoid the less complex Omega 6 (LA) in soy, corn oils, etc. I personally
don't care for Primrose Oil as a source of GLA because B&BC Oil have
twice the GLA ( 22% & 17% compared to only 9% in PR Oil). If you only
take the Fish Oil or only take the Fish/Flax oil combo...either will probably
do the job... BUT, if you want to 'knock it up a notch' and take GLA, always
take with Flax Oil or Ground Flax Seed. Read "Fat Facts" to understand
the necessary synergy between GLA (Boarge) & ALA (Flax). Don't eat
fish for Omega 3-- too much mercury.
-
- C. Selenium -- the Super Star of antioxidants and necessary
for production of T-4 & T-4 to T-3 conversion. Mercury blocks selenium...
so NO fish!
-
- D. Zinc -- also needed for T-4 production & conversion.
Necessary to stimulate the pituitary which signals the thyroid to make
more thyroid hormones. Always take at a 10 to 1 ratio with Copper. If
you take 30mg Zinc- take 3mg Copper.
-
- E. Vitamin D3 -- necessary for thyroid production.
Take 800 to 1200iu of D3 only - avoid the potentially toxic D2 found in
milk. You can get D3 from exposure to the sun and Cod Liver Oil. The great
probiotic dairy product Kefir also uses D3. Never take Vit. D without Calcium/Magnesium
-
- F. Vitamin E -- take 400 to 800iu of Natural Mixed Tocopherol.
The 400iu dose is more than adequate...I would only take 800iu if I had
heart disease, MS, etc.
-
- G. L-Tyrosine -- the Amino Acid that is the precursor
to T-4 and the wonderful Co Q-10 (the #1 heart muscle supp.) It is best
if you take the whole spectrum of Amino Acids ...again it's that synergistic
thing. A good way to do that is consume WPI (Whey Protein Isolate) every
day. Don't take Tyrosine with MAO inhibitors - it could cause high BP.
-
- H. Antioxidants -- along with the already mentioned
Selenium... take the two heavy-weights of antioxidants, Alpha Lipoic Acid
& Grape Seed Extract.
-
- I. Progesterone -- if menopausal, progesterone can help
the thyroid where as estrogen is anti-thyroid. You may need an estrogen
/ progesterone combo (natural, if possible) because menopausal hormones
being in balance is the best way to insure your thyroid hormones are in
balance.
-
- Most holistic practitioners, to include a growing number
of MDs, recommend NEVER destroying part of your thyroid with radioactive
iodine or a poison like methimazone or surgically removing part of the
thyroid to slow down hormone production in the event you have hyperthyroidism.
Invariablely this will drive you into low thyroid from which you may never
recover.
-
- What to do initially... and forever:
-
- One major consideration that medical doctors almost never
mention concerning the prevention or the treatment of a disease, and that
is a fine-tuned gut. This is my initial approach to virtually every ailment
because it can ONLY help... it can't hurt.
-
- Almost every disease either comes through the gut, or
is a result of a sick, inefficient gut. A healthy digestive system not
only means maximum absorption of nutrients to fight or prevent disease,
but it is your first line of defense against poisons, toxins, and the ever
present candida yeast, which causes diseases like... low thyroid.
-
- Here's what to do specifically:
-
- 1. Follow the "Helicopter Pilot's Diet" found
in LivingTree Root #007 found at: http://www.alienview.net/ALLT1.html
-
- 2. Try Betaine HCL with Pepsin -- if your stomach doesn't
get warm and if you don't have an ulcer, then continue with this "stomach
acid in a capsule."
-
- 3. Take a broad spectrum of digestive enzymes.
-
- 4. Take a broad spectrum of probiotics like acidophilus,
etc, or even better and cheaper, drink a cup or 2 of Kefir every day.
-
- 5. Stay away from sugar / refined carbos, HVO, poly
food oil, tap water, burnt fat or carbos, antacids, carbonated drinks,
inorganic salts like calcium carbonate or magnesium oxide .
-
- This is all I have this iteration, folks... but remember:
If you use a "mainstream" medical doctor be prepared to have
them advise you that the BTT doesn't work and that synthetic hormones are
superior to natural hormones. This is far from accurate. Be ready to
argue your case... the life you improve will be your own.
-
- I reiterate, you will have to find a holistic Doctor
or a sympathetic MD to advise you about these matters. It would not be
appropriate for you to seek specific advice from me, as I am not a doctor
. My function here is to arm you with appropriate information, only,
so you can make an informed decision (give informed consent) or have ready
ammunition against a close-minded medico. Additionally, I function in
a manner to make it easier for your Doctor to actually follow his Hippocratic
oath to... "do no harm."
-
- Until next time, then... Well BE!
-
- Alan D. Graham
- 800 Robin Parker Rd.
- Ozark, AL 36360
-
- Phone (334) 774-0395
- (NEW!) E-mail -- alan068@centurytel.net
- www.AlienView.net
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