An estimated 27 million Americans suffer from thyroid-related illness, the majority of them women. Yet thyroid-related diseases are often ill diagnosed, and there is much about their treatment that bears greater clarification and study. In Dr. Datis Kharrazian’s book “Why do I still have thyroid symptoms When all my labs are normal?” he presents a revolutionary breakthrough in understanding Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism and supporting people who have these conditions. There are 6 patterns of of low thyroid function that can be indentified using blood tests. Only one of the patterns responds to thyoid replacement therapy.
Global Physiological Effects of the Thyroid
1. GI Motility. Generally gastrointestinal motility is decreased in hypothyroid states. A decrease in gastrin leads to a decrease in HCL acid which is necessary to breakdown food.
2. Anemias. Due to a decrease in absorption of nutrients, iron defiency anemia is often present. Also, pernicious anemia is common in about 12% of all hypothyroid patients due to autoimmune attacks against the parietal cells in the gut responsible for producing intrinsic factor.
3. IGF1. IGF1 is decreased in hypothyroid states which helps in the anabolic repair/rebuilding of the body.
4. Epinepherine/Norepinepherine. These 2 neurotransmitters lose their function in hypothyroid states and lead to loss of motivation and depression. They are also responsible for lypolysis, which is the breakdown of fat, this leads to difficulty losing weight.
5. Hepatic clearance. Phase 2 conjugating enzymes can’t mature in a hypothyroid state and this inhibits the clearance of toxins.
6. Progesterone. Progesterone receptor sites lose their sensativity to take in progesterone and often times we will see a spike or increase in serum progesterone, yet a patient has symtoms of decreased progesterone.
7.SHBG. Sex hormone binding globulin is increased in hypothyroid states and this decreases the ability of testosterone and estrogen to get into the cells, causing symptoms of defiecency.
As you can see, the thyroid has a dramatic effect of many physiological sysytems.
Most, (80-90%), of all hypothyroid conditions are autoimmune in origin, meaning the body is attacking itself. In these instances, replacement therapy (natural or synthetic) will have very little effect on the long term success in management of these conditions. In our office, after a comprehensive blood panel, (including a breakdown and dissection of the whiet blood cells) we determine if it is in fact an autoimmune condition. If it is, we have specific management protocols that address the autoimmune component and help to modulate the genetic expression of the condition.