The thyroid is a small butterfly-shaped gland in the throat with a powerful effect on nearly every system in your body. From body temperature regulation to metabolism to cellular energy production: this “tiny but mighty” gland is critical for health! When not functioning properly, symptoms may include fatigue, unexplained weight gain or loss, hair loss, muscle cramps, low sex drive, high cholesterol, brain fog, anxiety, heart palpitations and mood changes.
Current estimates indicate that up to sixty million Americans—one in five women and one in eight men– likely suffer from thyroid disease, many going undiagnosed. Approximately twenty-three million Americans take synthetic thyroid hormones in the form of the medication levothyroxine, making it one of the most prescribed drugs in the country. But is this really the best approach? Is our only option to take thyroid hormones for the rest of our life?
In the United States most hypothyroid cases are in fact due to a condition called autoimmune thyroiditis, or Hashimoto’s Disease. Conventional doctors almost never test for this illness, because for them the treatment is the same regardless of cause: supplement with thyroid hormones. This is a problem because Hashimoto’s is not really a thyroid issue; it is an immune system malfunction that is connected to the condition of your gut.
Most people do not know that seventy percent of our immune system lines the gut. Due to ongoing stresses including poor diet and nutrient deficiencies, lack of stomach acid, abdominal surgeries, prolonged emotional stress, poor sleep, and microbial infections, the gut lining can become compromised. When this happens food particles and in particular larger protein molecules such as gluten “leak” through and are targeted by our immune system. As proteins in food are often very similar to proteins in our body tissues, over time the immune system can become confused and start attacking itself. In the case of Hashimoto’s, proteins in the thyroid gland are targeted.
There are three thyroid-related hormones required to properly assess thyroid health. Your conventional medical doctor most often only tests one: thyroid stimulating hormone or TSH (a pituitary hormone). In addition, Hashimoto’s can only be diagnosed by adding antibody markers to your labs; if you have elevated antibodies, you have Hashimoto’s. And if your goal is to heal your thyroid and not create permanent dependence on synthetic hormones, then you need to work on healing your gut.
Finally, Hashimoto’s disease is surprisingly common and thus extremely important to diagnose correctly. The condition can cause severe emotional turmoil for certain individuals. We have seen people misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder, panic disorder, anxiety attacks and manic-depressive disorder, when the driving condition was Hashimoto’s.
At Vital Health we are focused on proper diagnosis and healing of your thyroid condition. We utilize in-depth health history intakes and specialized nutritional testing together with targeted labs, to get to the root causes. We then incorporate diet and lifestyle adjustments, nutritional supplements, and acupuncture to restore your thyroid to health.
©2023 Darcy Greenwald, M.S.O.M., L.Ac. and Vital Health
