Your thyroid gland works in concert with your hypothalamus and your pituitary gland to control your body's energy needs. In response to stressors and changes in temperature your hypothalamus produces TRH (Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone) which tells the pituitary gland to respond. The pituitary gland releases TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) which tells the thyroid gland to secrete thyroid hormone.
Thyroid hormone is your spark plug. If your thyroid hormone is low your cells would not be able to burn fat for energy. You can take a car to the gas station and fill it up with gas but the car will not drive until you ignite the engine.
Low thyroid levels lead to increased fatigue, increased weight gain, increased depression, problems sleeping, brain fog and lots of other issues. Your cells need energy to do their work. The brain uses up 20% of the energy that the body produces. Therefore, when your thyroid hormone is low your brain is significantly affected more than your other organs leading to problems with concentration, memory, cognitive function and brain fog.
The cost of healthcare has increased tenfold since 1980. In 1980 the cost of healthcare was 256 billion today it is over 2.6 trillion. In America 67% of the population is overweight and 33% is obese. In France the obesity rate is 8% and in Italy 9%. Low thyroid hormone levels lead to obesity which in turn leads to diabetes type two which leads to hypertension which leads to coronary artery disease, degenerative joint disease Alzheimer's disease and cancer.
When you go to the doctor and say doc I feel cold, tired, and rundown, I have no energy, I'm gaining weight, my hair is falling out. He says you're depressed he does not check your thyroid function or checks it and says you are in the normal range so it cannot be your thyroid. The test (your TSH) is rigged so that 95% is always normal and only 5% abnormal. As we have told you already 67% of Americans are overweight and 33% obese therefore 95% of Americans cannot have normal thyroid functions. It is easier to write a prescription for synthetic medication than think about the cause which cost more time and effort on the physician part.
DOCTORS put Band-Aids on patients they do not try to find the underlying cause of the problem and fix it. Insurance companies control the doctor (our patients and our income) Insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry control the medical societies, the academic medical professors receive payments from big Pharma and insurance companies. Insurance companies and big Pharma have no interest in promoting natural approaches to health. A healthy public requires less health care. The insurance company and big Pharma would much rather an unhealthy public so that they can charge more in premium payments and have you buy more synthetic drugs.
Hypothyroidism is inadequate production of thyroid hormone by the thyroid gland or inadequate absorption of thyroid hormones by our cells. The thyroid gland produces two main types of thyroid homes T4 which is inactive and T3 that active thyroid. 93% of the thyroid secreted is T4 and 7% is T3. T4 has to be converted in the cells to T3 to be active. Unfortunately we do not have a test to test how much is converted to T3 in the cell.
Testing TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) is inadequate because it only reflects the signal to the thyroid to make thyroid hormone it does not reflect how much thyroid hormone is actually being made.
Diagnosing hypothyroidism is best made by a good history from the patient combined with the symptoms and judicious testing. Testing for micronutrient deficiencies such as Fe, Zn, and Selenium can be helpful. Check for leaky gut and autoimmune diseases (thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOab) and antithyroglobulin antibodies (ATA)).
Hypothyroidism has been treated for over a hundred years with desiccated (dried) thyroid extract (Armour thyroid). This is a combination of T3 and T4 the same as what the thyroid makes.
The underlining cause of the problem has to be addressed and repaired.
Treating the patient's adrenal fatigue if that is the problem, treating yeast overgrowth and repairing leaky gut if autoimmune disease is the problem. Eat a balanced diet with adequate doses of vitamins and mineral supplementation. Fix environmental allergies and repair food allergies and sensitivities.
The Wellness & Aesthetics Medical Center
540 Oak Centre Dr, Suite 114
San Antonio, TX 78258
Phone: (210) 985-1700
