Thyroid Disease
There are four main types of thyroid disease:
Hyperthyroidism - too much thyroid hormone
Hypothyroidism - too little thyroid hormone
Benign (non-cancerous) thyroid disease
Thyroid cancer
Alpine Physicians routinely treats hypothyroidism and can often help with hyperthyroidism. Our approach to diagnosis is to perform a complete thyroid panel including TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), free T4 and free T3. This will reveal hypothyroid conditions much better than using just the TSH. This is explained in more detail below.
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis is the most common cause of low thryoid and requires specific dietary modifications as well as antiinflammatory support to treat it successfully; it is an autoimmune disease that destroys the thyroid gland. Blood tests for thyroid autoantibodies are used to diagnose this condition.
Once a diagnosis of low or hypothyroid disease is confirmed it is treated in several ways
1. If thyroid function is marginally low it can often be treated with nutrients specific for normal thyroid hormone production. However, low thyroid hormone levels are always corrected with prescription hormones until nutrient deficiences or other blocks to normal gland function are addressed.
2. If thyroid function is significantly low the preferred treatment is with porcine desiccated thyroid, known as USP Thyroid. The most common brand name is Armour Thyroid. We often use quality brands such as Naturthroid and Westhroid. All of these prescription medications contain both T4 and T3 in specific amounts.
3. Some patients with significantly low thyroid will feel better on a compounded medication of T4 (thyroxine) and sustained release T3 (triiodothyronine) containing a ratio specific for them.
4. Rarely, a hypothyroid patient will respond better to T4 alone, and is prescribed the generic synthetic hormone, Levothyroxine. Synthroid is a common brand name
TSH Considerations
TSH values increase when there is insufficient thyroid hormone circulating in the blood. The hypothalamus (in the brain) senses the level of hormone, mainly T4, and sends TRH (thyrotropin releasing hormone) to the pituitary gland, which then secretes TSH – signaling the thyroid gland to produce more hormones. TSH will not go up appropriately when:
1. There are insufficient adrenal hormones, adrenal gland insufficiency or adrenal fatigue (worse)
2. Serotonin is depleted in the body. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter and it can be depleted by antidepressant drugs (SSRI, SNRI for example) and B-vitamin deficiencies. Many prescription drugs deplete B-vitamins.
The most common cause of hypothyroidism is Hashimoto's thyroiditis, in which the immune system attacks the thyroid gland. A less common cause of hypothyroidism is when the pituitary gland does not release a hormone to stimulate the thyroid gland, also known as secondary hypothyroidism .
This page last modified on Friday, September 16, 2011