Thyroid

[Master Kim]

THYROID HORMONE THERAPY APPEARS TO CAUSE BREAST CANCER - www.newswithviews.com/Howenstine/james47.htm


By Dr. James Howenstine, MD.
July 27, 2006
NewsWithViews.com

Medical journals and textbooks typically portray iodine as an unimportant substance which should be taken in small amounts[1] because of it's dangers. Actually approximately one third of humanity has iodine deficiency.

When humans lack iodine the thyroid gland enlarges (goiter), nodules appear in the thyroid gland and over a period of time cancer may appear in a thyroid nodule. Conventional medicine treats thyroid gland enlargement with thyroid hormone without considering the possibility that the hypothyroidism and goiter may be due to lack of iodine. This failure to diagnose and treat iodine deficiency can lead to an increased risk of breast cancer and the longer the diagnosis is missed the greater the chance that breast cancer will occur. Women taking thyroid hormone appear to be twice (12.1%) as likely to develop breast cancer as women not using thyroid hormone (6..2%). Women who had taken thyroid hormone for 15 years had a 19.5% incidence of breast cancer whereas women who have only taken thyroid hormone for 5 years had only a 10% incidence of breast cancer. Why is this?

The essential trace element iodine may be the most important least publicized mineral in existence. Iodine is the only element needed in hormones and in the production of hormones. The iodine containing hormones are involved in the creation of embryos, development of brain function, growth, metabolism and maintenance of body temperature. This means that proper amounts of thyroid hormone, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, insulin, growth hormone etc. can not be made when iodine is lacking from the body. One third of all individuals on Earth are functioning with subnormal levels of iodine. Low intake of iodine is the leading cause for intellectual deficiency in the world.

There is strong evidence that iodine lack predisposes to breast cancer. One out of seven women in the U.S. has deficiency of iodine proven by urine iodine screening tests (urine I less than 50 ug/L). This is the same incidence for breast cancer seen in U.S. women. Without bothering to check urine for iodine, physicians visited by a woman with a goiter or symptoms of hypothyroidism are routinely prescribing thyroid hormone therapy.

Hintze et al[2] compared the results of 400ug/L of Iodine with 150ug of T4 (synthyroid) for 8 months and then four months after stopping therapy. The results clearly favored iodine therapy. Both treatments led to similar suppression in the size of the goiter. However, four months later the size of the thyroid had returned to pre-treatment levels in the group treated with T4 hormone. The group who had received iodine therapy continued to have normal sized thyroid glands four months after therapy was stopped. Several investigators have concluded that iodine lack is a probable cause for breast cancer in women.[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Demographic studies in Japan and Iceland revealed that both countries have a high intake of iodine and low incidences of goiter and breast cancer. In Mexico and Thailand where iodine intake is low there is a high incidence of goiter and breast cancer.[8] Thyroid gland size measured by ultrasound is significantly larger[9] in Irish women with breast cancer than control women.

Administration of thyroid hormone to iodine deficient women appears to increase the risk of developing breast cancer. In a group of women undergoing screening mammograms the incidence of breast cancer[10] was twice as high in the women taking thyroid hormone. for hypothyroidism (probably caused by iodine lack) than in women not taking thyroid supplements. The mean incidence was 6.2% in controls and 12.1% in women on thyroid hormones. The incidence of breast cancer was twice as high in women taking thyroid hormone for more than 15 years (19.5%) compared to those on thyroid hormones for only 5 years (10%).

In the state of Michigan, during a period of iodine supplementation in bread (1924-1951) the prevalence of goiter diminished from 38.6% to 1.4%. Of interest the incidence of breast cancer remained unchanged during this time frame. This information was used to suggest that iodine supplementation had no effect on the incidence of breast cancer. However, Ghent and Eskin were able to show in women and female rats that the amount of iodine needed to protect against fibrocystic disease of the breast and breast cancer was at least 20 to 40 times greater[11] than the iodine needed to control goiter.

In the 1960s mandated iodine containing dough was equivalent to the RDA of 150 ug per slice of bread. At that time the incidence of breast cancer was only 1 in 20.[12] In the past 20 years the use of iodine supplementation in bread was eliminated and a goiter producing substance toxic to the thyroid gland (bromine) was introduced as replacement for iodine. The risk for breast cancer is now 1 in 8 and this risk is increasing by one percent[13] each year. The decision to replace iodine in an iodine deficient population with a goitrogen was illogical lacking in common sense. The damaging effects of bromine on thyroid tissue also appears to contribute to the development of auto-immune diseases in the thyroid gland (Hashimoto's thyroiditis).

The mammary glands have a trapping system for iodine similar to that of the thyroid gland. The breasts effectively compete with the thyroid gland for ingested iodine. This distribution of iodine to both breast and thyroid gland in pubertal girls explains why goiter is 6 times more common in girls than pubertal boys. The disappearance of iodine into breast tissue in women leads to decreased ability to supply the thyroid gland with an adequate amount of iodine. The development of a goiter in young girls indicates deficient distribution of iodine to both breast and thyroid tissue. Treating such a patient with thyroid hormone is not sensible and appears to increase the risk of breast cancer.

Study of radioiodine uptake in normals and women with fibrocystic breast disease FDB reveals that the FDB breasts were able to take in 12.5% of the iodine dosage compared to only 6.9% in normal breasts. This proves the existence of considerable iodine depletion in the breasts of women with FDB.

There is considerable evidence for an increased risk of thyroid cancer as well as breast cancer in persons with iodine deficiency. Untreated iodine deficiency leads to goiter, thyroid nodules and eventually some of these nodules become malignant. The decreasing intake of iodine has resulted in an increase in thyroid nodules and increase in thyroid cancer. In 2001 there were 19,500 new cases of thyroid cancer in the U.S. with 14,900 of these cases occurring in women.

Iodine has a role in promoting general well being as well as protecting against infections, degenerative diseases and cancer. Iodine promotes the normal killing of defective and abnormal cells (apoptosis). Thus, iodine helps the body's surveillance system to detect and remove abnormal cells. Additionally, the presence of iodine triggers differentiation away from the more dangerous undifferentiated type of cell toward normal cells. The presence of adequate levels of iodine in the body (Japanese diet with lots of sea vegetables and fish) reduces reactive oxygen species (ROS). in the body which decreases the oxidative burden in the body This results in slowing of degeneration disease processes and decreasing the risk of cancer.

Nearly every physician in the United States will reach for a prescription pad to order thyroid hormone when he sees a patient with goiter or symptoms of hypothyroidism. This can be exactly the wrong thing to do if the patient has deficient stores of iodine. Insist on obtaining a 24 hour urine collection for iodine to eliminate iodine lack as the cause for your symptoms (values below 50 ug/liter are abnormal). Thyroid hormone therapy in the presence of iodine deficiency increases the risk of breast cancer and probably thyroid cancer as well. Endocrinologist, Dr. Guy Abraham, formerly of the U.C.L.A. Department of Endocrinology, is convinced that everyone needs to be on iodine therapy until their iodine stores have been fully restored. After this time frame periodic intake of iodine will help insure that the many body functions requiring iodine run smoothly.

A dosage of two tablets of Iodoral twice daily for three months followed by one Iodoral tablet daily for a year will restore iodine stores for most persons. At that point periodic taking of an Iodoral tablet daily one month out of 4 to 6 months etc. will be adequate to maintain iodine stores. Iodine stores can be easily monitored by taking 4 Iodoral tablets (50 mg iodine) and collecting a 24 hour urine sample for iodine content. If 80% of the ingested iodine is found in the urine collection the iodine stores are normal. Iodoral can be obtained from Optimox Corp. Torrance, Cal. To purchase a referral from a health care practitioner is needed.

Footnotes:

1, Abraham, Guy F. et al Orthoiodosupplementaion: Iodine Sufficiency Of The Whole Body pg 1
2, Hintze, G. et al treatment of Endemic goiter due to iodine deficiency with iodine, levothyroxine or both:results of a multicentre trial. European Journal of Clinical Investigation, 19:527-534, 1989
3, Eskin B et al Mammary Gland Dysplasia in Iodine Deficiency JAMA , 200:115-119. 1967
4, Eskin B Iodine and Mammary Gland Cancer Adv. Exp. Med. Biol., 91:293-304, 1977
5, Ghent, W. et al Iodine Replacement in Fibrocystic disease of the Breast Can. J. Surg. , 36:453-460, 1993
6, Eskin B. et al Different Tissue Responses for Iodine and Iodidein Rat Thyroid and mammary Glands Biol. Trace Element Research 49:9-19, 1995
7, Derry , D Breast Cancer and Iodine Trafford Publishing, Victoria B.C. , 92, 2001
8, Finley JW., Bogardus, G.M., Breast Cancer and Thyroid Disease Quart. Review Surg. Obstet. Gyn. 17:139-147, 1960
9, Smtyhe, P. , Thyroid Disease and Breast Cancer J. Endo. Int. , 16:396-401, 1993
10, Ghandrakant, C. et al Breast Cancer Relationship to Thyroid Supplements for hypothyroidism JAMA, 238:1124, 1976
11, Backwinkel, K., Jackson, A.S. Some Fearures of breast Cancer and Thyroid Deficiency Cancer17:1174-1176 , 1964
12, Epstein, S.S., Sherman, D. Breast Cancer Prevention Program Macmillan , NY. 1998 pg 5
13, Ibid


Dr. James A. Howenstine is a board certified specialist in internal medicine who spent 34 years caring for office and hospital patients. After 4 years of personal study he became convinced that natural products are safer, more effective, and less expensive than pharmaceutical drugs.

This research led to the publication of his book A Physicians Guide To Natural Health Products That Work. Information about these products and his book can be obtained from amazon.com and at www.naturalhealthteam.com and phone [phone] U.S. Dr. Howenstine can be reached by mail at Dr. James Howenstine, C/O Remarsa USA SB 37, P.O. Box 25292, Miami, Fl. 33102-5292.

E-Mail: [e-mail]

[Master Kim]

More BAD news if you are on T4-only like Synthroid??: it can cause Lung Cancer, says a study! - www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/2013/08/12/t4-only-lung-cancer/

August 12, 2013 By Janie Bowthorpe



After worldwide patient experience has revealed that T4-only treatment results in a slew of continuing hypothyroid symptoms, now we have a study which implies that T4-only treatment could be raising your risk of LUNG CANCER.

This complete study came out just last Thursday, August 8, 2013, in the Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology journal and it’s certainly not good news, if true, on top of what thyroid patients already know has been a failure in so many ways.

The Italian authors said the correlation between lung cancer and T4-only treatment was “significant“!

In other words, says the study, as hypothyroid patients raise their T4-only levothyroxine medication to chase continuing symptoms of hypothyroidism, it can lead to medication-induced hyperthyroid state, which in turns leads to an overproduction of oxidative stress. The latter oxidative stress is a known cause of cancer and other chronic diseases. But with T4-use, it’s specifically problematic for lung cancer, implies the study.

Oxidative stress can be defined as a that which results in “significant decrease in the effectiveness of your iinherent antioxidant defenses, such as glutathione” (Wikipedia). And there are two main consequences: your body doesn’t detoxify itself well, nor does it repair any damage well because of free radicals.

The study states:The prevalence of breast, colorectal, gastric and lung cancer in 18 Italian Regions during 2010 was correlated with the sales of LT4 in 2009. The cancer prevalence was analyzed in women aged 30–84. This age range corresponds to more than 80% of the consumers of the drug and to about 99% of all malignant cancers. The correlation between sales of LT4 and cancers was determined with the technique of Density Ellipses. The age and smoking contribution for lung cancer was determined with the Sequential test.
It also adds:Lung cancer was the only tumor found directly correlated with LT4 supplementation.
It’s particularly interesting to note that simply being hypothyroid results in increased oxidative stress, but the use of T4-only medications creates the same problem via a different route, explains the study. “LT4 can alter the oxidative balance in lungs and behave as a negative factor because of oxidative stress….”

The authors conclude that “hypothyroidism might also be involved in the development of lung cancer”, but the study does send an alarming message about the correlation between T4 use and lung cancer, as well.

The website Green Med Info, which promotes natural and integrative modalities, goes further into the discussion about the problematic nature of treating hypothyroidism with T4-only, stating

One of the main drawbacks of administering T4 in isolation is the possibility that it will not convert adequately to T3, and will therefore ‘back up’ causing excessive T4 activity, i.e. hyperthyroidism. There is also the very real possibility that T4 will not only not properly interact with thyroxine cellular receptors, but will block out what remaining natural levothyroxine the thyroid is still producing (and whose conformational state is far more health-promoting), essentially acting as an endocrine disrupter at the very moment that it is acting as intended as a ‘TSH suppressor.’ This T4 blocking/endocrine-disrupting property of the synthetic form would also activate a negative feedback loop within the endocrine system, further suppressing remaining thyroid function, and resulting in the atrophy of the compromised thyroid, a iatrogenic ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ if you will.

And they conclude: “There is also compelling research indicating that desiccated thyroid extract (Armour thyroid) results in superior clinical outcomes versus the synthetic hormone, especially as concerns improved body weight.” And of course, patients who have switched to natural desiccated thyroid (NDT) have reported FAR better results repeatedly! Brands are not limited to Armour. Other brands which patients like include Erfa, Acella (NP Thyroid), Naturethroid, Westhroid-P and more.

Message to those still using T4-only

Millions of hypothyroid patients have reported millions of prices in their own degree and kind thanks to their use of T4-only medications. Now we have a study that implies your risk of getting lung cancer is increased. What’s next?? It’s not a pretty picture, if the correlation turns out be accurate for some. Time to take a strong and open-minded look at what patients have learned.

ADDENDUM FROM JANIE: Please note that this study doesn’t say that every single T4 user is going to get lung cancer. My mother was on Synthroid her entire life, and though she had many miserable symptoms from it being a poor treatment for her, she never got lung cancer. It just seems to say that the researchers noted increased oxidative stress with T4 use, and they saw a correlation between that and lung cancer in some. Read the entire study information here and decide for yourself.

[Master Kim]

Are Synthetic Thyroid Drugs, Like Synthroid, Actually Making Your Condition Worse? - articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/08/01/are-synthetic-thyroid-drugs-like-synthroid-actually-making-your-condition-worse.aspx



The thyroid drug Synthroid (levothyroxine sodium), as the name implies, is anything but natural. It is not bio-equivalent to the natural hormone thyroxine, but is instead a synthetic, hormone-like substance with very different properties.

In conventional medical treatment for hypothyroidism, once blood variables fall into a range deemed "normal" thanks to the introduction of synthetic chemicals, the "treatment" is deemed a success. Unfortunately, the quality of life of the patient may actually worsen as the synthetic chemicals compete with the remaining natural hormones still being produced by their thyroid.

According to Green Med Info:

"We know that 'lack of Synthroid' is NOT the cause of any thyroid problem. Exposure to chemicals, e.g. perchlorate, common food intolerances (e.g. wheat/dairy), adrenal fatigue and nutrient deficiencies are the cause of 'hypothyroidism' in the vast majority of cases. So let's get back to the work of figuring out how to address the problem naturally."

Dr. Mercola's Comments:
If you have hypothyroidism, it means you have a sluggish or underactive thyroid, which is producing less than adequate amounts of thyroid hormone. The latest estimates suggest that 20 million Americans have hypothyroidism, but the actual numbers are probably higher. Some experts claim that 10 to 40 percent of Americans have suboptimal thyroid function, which is often undiagnosed and untreated.

Unfortunately, conventional medicine's solution for hypothyroidism is virtually always the same: a prescription for Synthroid (levothyroxine), a synthetic thyroid hormone that is actually the fourth most prescribed medication in the United States.

The drug is purported to be identical to thyroxine (T4) -- the hormone that the thyroid gland naturally makes, but if you look at the structural and functional properties of each substance in the images from GreenMedInfo below, you can see they are actually very different.

Image source: GreenMedInfo

Why Synthroid is Not an Optimal Treatment for Hypothyroidism

If your thyroid gland is not producing enough T4 hormone, replacing that hormone with a man-made alternative may seem like a logical option. But there are a number of reasons why this should only be used as an absolute last resort, not a first-line treatment.

For starters, the synthetic Synthroid is not identical to your natural thyroid hormone, as far as your body is concerned. As stated on GreenMedInfo:

"The glaring differences in their [Synthroid and Thyroxine] respective chemical/molecular make-ups will simultaneously reflect functional/behavioral differences. Not a single cell in the human body can be "tricked" into considering them bio-equivalent, even if the conventional medical establishment reiterates endlessly the manufacturer's marketing claims that they are treated identically by the human body.

… IF the pharmaceutical industry created a thyroid drug truly IDENTICAL to the natural hormone it is designed to replace, it would not be able to lay claim to a proprietary, patentable and thereby profitable product, i.e. there really is no reward in reproducing exactly the good works of … Nature."

In some cases Synthroid may actually worsen your condition, as the synthetic T4 may compete with your body's natural T4 for cellular receptor sites.

Further, conventional pharmaceutical treatment like Synthroid only replaces T4, leaving your body to convert this to T3 (triiodothyronine, the biologically active form of the hormone). Most people cannot effectively convert the T4 in synthetic thyroid preparations to T3, which may explain why research has shown that a combination of T4 and T3 is often more effective than T4 alone.

The conversion to T3 can be hampered by nutritional deficiencies such as low selenium, inadequate omega-3 fatty acids, low zinc, chemicals from the environment, or by stress.

So oftentimes taking T4 alone will result in only partial improvement.

Synthroid is also a drug that is notoriously hard to prescribe and keep within the optimal dosage range. Take too little and your hypothyroidism will not improve … take too much and you're at risk of numerous serious side effects, including bone fractures, impaired fertility, irregular heartbeat, muscle weakness, sleeplessness, vomiting and, as the Synthroid Web site notes, "other unusual medical events."

If supplementation is necessary, a better approach is combined T4 and T3 therapy. Natural thyroid products, like Armour thyroid are a combination of T4, T3 and T2 made from desiccated, or dried, porcine thyroid. Armour thyroid has gotten a bad rap over the years, perceived by physicians to be unstable and unreliable in terms of dosage. However, many improvements have been made in the product, making it a safe and effective option for treating hypothyroidism.

In fact, one study clearly demonstrated that patients with hypothyroidism showed greater improvements in mood and brain function if they received treatment with Armour thyroid than if they received Synthroid.

But perhaps the greatest issue of all is that in many cases early intervention with lifestyle changes can successfully restore your thyroid function by treating the underlying causes of the condition. It is always best to get your thyroid working again by treating the underlying cause, as opposed to taking an external source of thyroid hormone -- especially a synthetic version.

Synthroid Does Not Address the Underlying Causes of Thyroid Problems

Taking a thyroid hormone should be done only after you have ruled out other conditions that could be causing the thyroid dysfunction such as adrenal fatigue, gluten or other food allergies, hormonal imbalance, and more.

Your thyroid is a small gland that produces two primary thyroid hormones: T4 and T3. About 90 percent of the hormone produced by the gland is in the form of T4, the inactive form. Your liver converts this T4 into T3, the active form, with the help of an enzyme. Your thyroid also produces T2, yet another hormone, which currently is the least understood component of thyroid function and the subject of much ongoing study.

Thyroid hormones work in a feedback loop with your brain -- particularly your pituitary and hypothalamus -- in regulating the release of thyroid hormone. Your hypothalamus makes TRH (thyroid-releasing hormone), and your pituitary makes TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone). If everything is working properly, you will make what you need and you'll have the proper amounts of T3 and T4.

Those two hormones -- T3 and T4 -- are what control the metabolism of every cell in your body. But their delicate balance can be disrupted by nutritional imbalances, toxins, allergens, infections and stress. If your T3 is inadequate, either by insufficient production or not converting properly from T4, your whole system suffers.

3 Primary Factors Leading to Underactive Thyroid

From the foods you eat to chemicals in the environment, your thyroid is vulnerable to a variety of external factors. Some of the most important include:

1. Your Diet

Your diet is incredibly important for optimal thyroid function. If you follow my nutrition plan your metabolism will be more efficient, and your thyroid will have an easier time keeping everything in check. A healthy diet will also normalize your blood sugar and lipid levels and enhance your immune system, so that your thyroid will have fewer obstacles to overcome.

Eliminating junk food, processed food, artificial sweeteners, trans fats, and anything with chemical ingredients is important, and replacing them with whole, unprocessed foods, with as many organics as possible.

Gluten

As for specific foods, gluten is among the most common causes of thyroid dysfunction because it frequently triggers autoimmune responses in many people and can be responsible for Hashimoto's thyroiditis, a common autoimmune thyroid condition that is often unrecognized.

How this works is, gluten can cause your gastrointestinal system to malfunction, so foods you eat aren't completely digested (aka Leaky Gut Syndrome[7]). These food particles can then be absorbed into your bloodstream where your body misidentifies them as antigens -- substances that shouldn't be there. Your body then produces antibodies against them. These antigens are similar to molecules in your thyroid gland. So your body accidentally attacks your thyroid. This is known as an autoimmune reaction or one in which your body actually attacks itself.

Soy

Another food that typically worsens your thyroid is unfermented soy, as it is high in isoflavones (or goitrogens), which are damaging to your thyroid gland. Thousands of studies now link soy foods to malnutrition, digestive stress, immune system weakness, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders, infertility and a host of other problems -- in addition to damaging your thyroid.

Iodine

Lastly, iodine is a key component of thyroid hormone. In fact, the names of the different forms of thyroid hormone reflect the number of iodine molecules attached -- T4 has four attached iodine molecules, and T3 has three -- showing what an important part iodine plays in thyroid biochemistry.

If you aren't getting enough iodine in your diet (and most Americans don't), no matter how healthy your thyroid gland is, it won't have the raw materials to make enough thyroid hormone.

2. Stress

Stress is one of the worst thyroid offenders, as your thyroid function is intimately tied to your adrenal function, which in turn is intimately affected by how you handle stress.

Many of us are under chronic stress, which results in increased adrenalin and cortisol levels, and elevated cortisol has a negative impact on thyroid function. Thyroid hormone levels drop during stress, while you actually need more thyroid hormones during stressful times.

When stress becomes chronic, the flood of stress chemicals (adrenalin and cortisol) produced by your adrenal glands interferes with thyroid hormones and can contribute to obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, unstable blood sugar, and more. A prolonged stress response can lead to adrenal exhaustion (also known as adrenal fatigue), which is often found alongside thyroid disease.

3. Environmental Chemicals

Your thyroid hormones are very vulnerable to chemicals in the environment. For instance, chlorine, fluorine and bromine are halides like iodine, which means they compete for your iodine receptors. If you are exposed to a lot of bromine, you will not hold on to the iodine you need.

Bromine is present in many places in your everyday world -- plastics, pesticides, hot tub treatments, fire retardants, some flours and bakery goods, and even some soft drinks. I have written a special article about bromine and its influence on your thyroid gland and I encourage you to read it. Other chemicals that are particularly damaging to your thyroid include:

PFOA: People with the highest 25% of PFOA concentrations (above 5.7ng/ml) were more than twice as likely to have thyroid disease than those with the lowest 50% of PFOA concentrations (below 4.0ng/ml). PFOA is found in non-stick cookware, stain-resistant clothing and carpeting, food packaging and other consumer goods.
Perchlorate: An endocrine-disrupting chemical known to disrupt thyroid function and hormone production by inhibiting your thyroid gland's iodine uptake. Perchlorate is a chemical used to make rocket fuel, fireworks, flares and explosives, as well as some bleach and fertilizers. It is also widely used in the defense- and pyrotechnics industries, and is now causing widespread land and water contamination in many parts of the world.
Fluoride: Fluoride, which is added to many municipal drinking water supplies in the United States, is particularly damaging to your thyroid gland. Not all water filters remove fluoride, so make sure the one you have does. It is also added to most toothpastes so please be sure and use a non-fluoride toothpaste.
Triclosan: A chemical used to help reduce or prevent bacterial contamination, commonly added to antibacterial soaps and body washes, toothpastes and certain cosmetics, as well as furniture, kitchenware, clothing and toys.

How do You Know if Your Thyroid is Sluggish?

Lab testing is actually not the most useful tool for diagnosing thyroid disease, as most lab reference ranges are wrong, particularly for the TSH test. Further, many cases are subclinical, and do not show up at all in standard laboratory measurements.

Unfortunately, many if not most conventional doctors do nothing but look at lab test data when diagnosing thyroid disease, and typically ignore signs and symptoms revealed by the patient, such as dry skin or hair loss. This is why it's so important that you are working with a health care practitioner who is very knowledgeable in recognizing thyroid disease and providing natural treatment options.

In my recent interview with Dr. John Lowe, who is recognized as one of the leading experts on treating thyroid disease with natural medicine, he discusses further why conventional thyroid tests may at times be completely useless for diagnosis. For example, based on three decades worth of work in this area, and two rigorous studies, Dr. Lowe has concluded that the conventional testing used does not correlate with the far more powerful assessment of thyroid hormone in your body, which is your basal metabolic rate (a low basal body temperature (BBT), less than 97.6 degrees F averaged over a minimum of 3 days, may be a sign of hypothyroidism).

So, if the conventional lab tests are unreliable, what are the signs and symptoms to look for? There are some 60 different symptoms that are indicative of thyroid disease. Dr. Lowe's web site, www.DrLowe.com, contains a full list of all the signs and symptoms. Here are a few of the most common:
Fatigue
Hair loss
Weight gain
Dry skin, hair, eyes and other mucous membranes
Excess muscle tension and trigger points—For muscles to completely relax, filaments must lengthen and separate, which requires energy (ATP molecules). Low thyroid hormone reduces ATP
Delayed deep tendon reflexes (slow relaxation phase of the Achilles reflex)—Thyroid hormone controls gene transcription for calcium ATPase. When you hit the Achilles tendon and your foot goes down rapidly and then raises back slowly, it's a sign of hypothyroidism or thyroid hormone resistance. This is due to lack of ATP molecules to provide the energy for the contractual filaments to separate and relax, hence you get a visibly slow relaxation phase of the Achilles reflex.

Tips for Naturally Optimizing Your Thyroid Function

Thyroid disease, if left untreated, can lead to heart disease, infertility, muscle weakness, osteoporosis and, in extreme cases, coma or death -- yet it's estimated that half of the cases in the United States remain undiagnosed. So if you present certain symptoms, there's a good possibility your thyroid function could use some improvement, even if lab tests come back normal.

Fortunately, health is based on a few fundamental principles, and although you will need to address specific aspects for any particular disease, the bulk of the therapy is the same for virtually ALL diseases:

Eating a nutritious diet (a low-sugar, low-grain, mainly raw organic diet is optimally nutritious and anti-inflammatory)
Exercising
Avoid soy
Avoid all sources of fluoride, in your water and your toothpaste
Normalizing hormones
Avoiding medications (virtually all medications create further imbalances, hence the side effects and deterioration of health) and environmental toxins
Addressing stress

This "prescription" is no different in the case of thyroid disease, although I do highly recommend working with a health care practitioner who can tailor these recommendations, and add more specifics, to your unique circumstances. Additional suggestions that can be used for general support of your thyroid, as well as treating an underperforming one, include:
Fatigue
Hair loss
Weight gain
Dry skin, hair, eyes and other mucous membranes
Excess muscle tension and trigger points—For muscles to completely relax, filaments must lengthen and separate, which requires energy (ATP molecules). Low thyroid hormone reduces ATP
Delayed deep tendon reflexes (slow relaxation phase of the Achilles reflex)—Thyroid hormone controls gene transcription for calcium ATPase. When you hit the Achilles tendon and your foot goes down rapidly and then raises back slowly, it's a sign of hypothyroidism or thyroid hormone resistance. This is due to lack of ATP molecules to provide the energy for the contractual filaments to separate and relax, hence you get a visibly slow relaxation phase of the Achilles reflex.

Eat plenty of sea vegetables such as seaweed, which are rich in minerals and iodine (hijiki, wakame, arame, dulse, nori, and kombu). (Make sure they come from non-polluted waters) Eat Brazil nuts, which are rich in selenium Get plenty of sunlight to optimize your vitamin D levels; if you live where sunlight is limited, you may need to use a tanning bed or vitamin D3 supplementation Eat foods rich in vitamin A, such as dandelion greens, carrots, spinach, kale, Swiss chard, collard greens, and sweet potatoes Make sure you are eating enough animal-based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil Use pure, organic coconut oil in your cooking -- it's great for stir fries and sautéing many different meats and vegetables. Filter your drinking water and your bathing water Use an infrared sauna to help your body combat infections and detoxify from petrochemicals, metals, PCBs, pesticides and mercury Filter your home and office air, since it is one of the ways you take in environmental pollutants