How Inflammation Causes Hypothyroidism

How Inflammation Causes Hypothyroidism

Inflammation is at the core of most chronic illnesses including hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s disease. But how exactly does inflammation cause hypothyroidism? Nonthyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS) is the state in which inflammation causes negative changes to thyroid hormone including low T3 and increased reverse T3 (rT3). T3 is the most active form of thyroid hormone and rT3 actually blocks T3 receptors so inflammation can really knock out thyroid function. TSH levels however stay relatively “normal” in NTIS thus leaving many patients with the symptoms of hypothyroidism but no diagnosis since no one is checking their T3 or rT3 levels.

In this article I’ll be referencing a paper entitled, “IL-6 promotes nonthyroidal illness syndrome by blocking thyroxine activation while promoting thyroid hormone inactivation in human cells.”

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Hashimoto's Disease

What are Optimal TSH Levels in Hashimoto’s Disease and Hypothyroidism?

TSH is the current gold standard for diagnosis of hypothyroidism but are the current TSH levels optimal and how do they relate to Hashimoto’s disease? An excellent paper out of China entitled, “Using Hashimoto thyroiditis as gold standard to determine the upper limit value of thyroid stimulating hormone in a Chinese cohort” has shed some light on this important question which looked at the upper limit of TSH levels in relation to Hashimoto’s disease and hypothyroidism.

The authors begin by stating that subclinical hypothyroidism is characterized by “normal” T4, T3, Free T4, and Free T3 with an elevated TSH. And these patients have an increased risk of cholesterol abnormalities, heart disease, mental illness, and pregnancy complications even though their symptoms are relatively mild.

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Should You Avoid Dairy if You Have Hashimoto's Disease?

Should You Avoid Dairy if You Have Hashimoto’s Disease?

In the last several months, we’ve examined how certain supplements such as vitamin D, genistein, cordyceps and inositol impact Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Today, we’re going to investigate how dairy—in the form of lactose—affects Hashimoto’s disease. Specifically, I’m going to be addressing these two points:

 

1. How avoiding dairy helps Hashimoto’s disease

2. How dairy affects the absorption of thyroid medication

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Ferritin and Hypothyroidism

Ferritin and Hypothyroidism

In this post, I’ll cover everything you need to know about ferritin and hypothyroidism. The ferritin test is a simple blood test, and it is one of the most important tests you should have if you have Hashimoto’s disease, Graves’ disease, and hypothyroidism. Ferritin is a storage form of iron, and the ferritin level test can tell you if your iron stores are low and need to be increased. The ferritin test is rarely ordered by conventional doctors, so many patients are left with the signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism when it is actually their low ferritin levels that are causing their health problems. The first issue with iron is that iron deficiency may be quite severe, but blood markers such as hemoglobin and the red blood cell count may be normal. This leaves many patients, especially women, misdiagnosed as not having anemia.

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Hashimoto's Disease

Genistein and Hashimoto’s Disease

Can Genistein Help Heal Hashimoto’s Disease and Hypothyroidism?

In the fall of 2016, a study was conducted in China and published in the medical journal Immunobiology. The researchers looked at the compound genistein and Hashimoto’s disease to see if it affected thyroid function in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.  The research paper was entitled, “Genistein improves thyroid function in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patients through regulating Th1 cytokines.”  To clarify, “Th1 cytokines” refer to a type of thyroid-helper cells that indicate how much inflammation there might be in the thyroid gland.  In other words, they are markers of inflammation.

The results of this study were very exciting so you might want to pay close attention.

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Hashimoto's Disease

Does Vitamin D Supplementation Help Heal Hashimoto’s Disease?

Is There a Connection Between Vitamin D and Hashimoto’s Disease?  Does Vitamin D Supplementation Help Heal Hashimoto’s Disease?

Vitamin D has long been established in literature as a highly essential nutrient with benefit to the musculoskeletal system and bone density. It also functions in the body as an immunomodulator, facilitating normal immune system function and improving resistance against certain diseases.

Given this background, one has to wonder if a deficiency in vitamin D would be prevalent among individuals with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and if so, would supplementation with vitamin D help patients manage the disease or perhaps even prevent it?

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Hypothyroidism

Does the Ketogenic Diet Cause Hypothyroidism?

The ketogenic diet is currently sweeping the internet and the diet book world as the best thing since sliced bread for everything under the sun. Unfortunately, you can’t eat bread on the ketogenic diet and it really can be difficult to follow for some people.

Since I work with many patients who have Hashimoto’s disease and hypothyroidism, I wanted to investigate whether the ketogenic diet can cause hypothyroidism or decrease thyroid function. Let’s jump into the research and see what it has to say.

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Hypothyroidism

The Thyroid and Thyroid Hormones

The thyroid is a small gland that lies in the neck about the level of the Adam’s apple and weighs approximately one ounce.  It produces thyroid hormone and calcitonin.  The parathyroid glands are very small and lie on the outside portion of the thyroid gland and secrete parathyroid hormone.  Thyroid hormone ignites your metabolism so you can burn fat and produce energy.  We will be focusing on thyroid hormone.

The thyroid gland is stimulated to make thyroid hormone by thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) which is produced in the pituitary gland located in the brain.  The pituitary is controlled by the hypothalamus in the brain which monitors the amount of circulating thyroid hormone.  Iodine must enter the thyroid gland through a transport system that is repaired with the intake of vitamin C.  There is usually about 20-30 mg of iodine in the body and 75 percent of it is stored in the thyroid.  In addition to iodine, iron, tyrosine, selenium, vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, copper, and vitamins B2, B3, and B6 are required for thyroid hormone production.

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