Articles

In initial animal studies, the research found that all of the artificial sweeteners caused increased blood sugar. Their theory was that the sweeteners change gut microbes — the bacteria in the stomach that, when balanced, help with proper digestion. By transplanting microbes from artificial-sweetening using mice to germ-free mice, they were able to create glucose […]

2.5 OR LOWER Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels above 2.5 are considered to be suspicious for subclinical hypothyroidism by many integrative physicians. The "normal" reference range for the TSH test tends to run from .3 to 4.5, and many patients with levels above 2.5 are told their thyroid is "normal," while their physicians fail to […]

Are you upset about the last minute webcast on September 3rd? So are we. Holtorf Medical Group would like to take this opportunity to apologize to our faithful audience and give an explanation for our actions. I'm sure you're aware that this live webcast was originally set to air on Thursday, August 21st. So what […]

Here are five important things to know about thyroid cancer. 1. Thyroid cancer may have no symptoms. Some cases of thyroid cancer have absolutely no symptoms. In fact, some are detected only because x-rays or imaging tests on the neck or upper back area pick up the image of a suspicious thyroid nodule. When thyroid […]

1. Understand the Lab Tests for Thyroid Disease Some doctors only use the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) test to diagnose and manage thyroid disease, and tell patients that their results are "normal" or "abnormal" — nothing more. Integrative physicians take it much further — often including Free T4, Free T3, Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPO), Thyroid […]

Similarly, many carpal tunnel syndrome sufferers aren't aware that it can be a symptom of an underactive thyroid, and that the symptoms may resolve with proper treatment. What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? The median nerve goes through a tunnel near the wrist bone (the carpal tunnel), allowing for sensation in the fingers. When there is […]

How Someone Ends Up Without a Thyroid There are several ways that someone can end up without a thyroid gland. First, you can be born without a gland, or with a malformed or non-functional gland. This is called "congenital hypothyroidism." When it's found, newborns are started on thyroid hormone replacement, to avoid the signs and […]

It also seems that the media is finally starting to recognize what integrative physicians have been saying for years — helping maintain healthy bacterial balance in the gut has a positive effect on many aspects of health, and probiotics can be a key step. Let's take a look at some probiotics basics, and the latest […]

To borrow the metaphor, you may have to kiss a few frogs along the way before you find that prince — or princess — or a practitioner. But in some cases, it becomes clear that this is not a working relationship, and it's time to move on. Here are seven signs that you definitely need […]

The article didn't get much attention in the American medical community, and that's no surprise. The title of the British Medical Journal article was "Evidence Based Medicine: Why we can't trust clinical guidelines." In the June 2013 article, author Jeanne Lenzer describes how drug companies can negatively influence members of committees that create clinical guidelines, […]

Researchers know that obesity and Type 2 diabetes frequently go along with Vitamin D deficiency, but they wanted to study whether low Vitamin D levels actually contribute to these conditions. According to the study's principal investigator, Stephanie Sisley, MD, "Our results suggest that Vitamin D may play a role in the onset of both obesity […]

Researchers from the University of Kentucky looked at whether significant hypothyroidism could impair driving ability. They studied 32 patients who had thyroid cancer - and who were taken off their thyroid hormone drugs and became hypothyroid prior to radioactive iodine scanning to detect cancer recurrence. They had the patients do a driving simulator test, and […]