Thyroid

If you are hypothyroid, you may notice that if you stay on a steady dose of thyroid hormone replacement medication during colder months, you may feel somewhat more hypothyroid. Some physicians routinely recommend that their hypothyroid patients raise their medication dosage slightly during colder months, and drop back down to a lower dose during warmer […]

A study recently published by the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism looked at the connection between TSH levels and pregnancy outcomes in hypothyroid women being treated with thyroid hormone replacement medication, in this case, the synthetic T4 medication levothyroxine. The study, which evaluated more than 50,000 hypothyroid women, found that during the first trimester, […]

There are so many things wrong with these Guidelines that we could write volumes, but let's cut to the chase. Here are five ways the new ATA hypothyroidism guidelines hurt thyroid patients. 1. The ATA's Conflict of Interest Makes the Guidelines Findings Questionable at Best While the ATA goes out of its way to assert […]

Low levels of thyroid during pregnancy is not an uncommon thing seeing as it can be caused by iron deficiency, which is a common side effect of pregnancy. That is why women are required to do various blood tests during pregnancy and are advised to eat a certain diet, which most likely consists of lean […]

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 […]

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 a […]

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 […]

A study from the journal Thyroid found that the antibiotic ciprofloxacin — known more commonly by brand names Cipro, Proquin, Ciproxin, Ciprobay, Cirpoxine, and Ciflox — significantly decreased the absorption of the thyroid medication. [Keep in mind that some experts feel that the warning about ciprofloxacin applies also to similar quinolone antibiotics such as levofloxacin […]

More common are cases where the adrenal glands are producing some - but not enough - stress hormones. This is known as adrenal fatigue. (Note: the integrative health world is pioneering in this area, but conventional medicine still does not recognize that adrenal dysfunction includes more than just an absence or excess of adrenal hormones!) […]

A British study was developed, to look at the connection between childhood obesity and weight gain, and the later development of an underactive thyroid and autoimmune thyroid conditions in the 60 to 64 age range. The researchers were able to access a study group of more 2500+ women, and 2500+ men who were born in […]

The research was presented in a poster session by Saad Sakkal, MD at the May 2014 annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE). Before we take a look at the research, let's explain a bit more about the hypothalamus and its impact on weight and metabolism. What is The Hypothalamus? Your hypothalamus […]

On the one hand, it's promising to think that a group of prominent endocrinologists are joining together to discuss this important issue. The endocrinology community, after all, is not typically known for acknowledging — much less being curious about — the complexities of thyroid hormone treatment. The tendency is usually to prescribe Synthroid, Levoxyl or […]

The Thyroid Summit is going to be more educational and more informative than any health event in the past decade. It's fun, it's life-changing and better yet, it's ONLINE and FREE from June 2-9, 2014. America's Pharmacist Suzy Cohen and Dr. David Brownstein created The Thyroid Summit because they both had personal experiences with undiagnosed […]

"Chronic fatigue" is a symptom, referring to continuing significant fatigue that lasts for months. It can be the result of a variety of ongoing or chronic conditions and illnesses (for example hypothyroidism, multiple sclerosis, anemia), nutritional deficiencies, sleep disorders like apnea, chronic pain, depression, and other health issues. Ongoing fatigue lasting at least six months […]

According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), 50 to 70 million Americans are affected by chronic sleep disorders as well as periodic sleep problems — issues that that can significantly impact health, alertness, and safety. The NSF also says that studies show that healthy adults have a "basal sleep need of seven to eight hours […]

Facebook Chat on Sleep If you missed thyroid advocate and bestselling author Mary Shomon's Facebook chat about the effects of sleep disorders on our health, it took place on Friday, April 25. You can read through all the Q&As and the full chat transcript online here.

Melatonin is produced — primarily at night — by the pineal gland, a tiny gland located in the brain. The pineal acts as a controller of our body's clock, including the day-to-day 24-hour clock that tells us when to sleep and when to wake. It also controls our lifetime biological clock that decides on bigger […]