| Your thyroid is a gland situated in the front of | | | | try to get your thyroid to produce more |
| your neck. The hormones (chemical messengers) | | | | thyroxine. So a high TSH means you are low |
| that it produces affect a great number of your | | | | thyroid. |
| body processes and other glands. So if your | | | | In the TSH test, the upper limit of 'normal' may |
| thyroid becomes underactive (medical name | | | | be given as anything from 3 µU/ml to 6 |
| hypothyroidism), your whole body is thrown off | | | | µU/ml depending on which country you live |
| balance. | | | | in and which lab has done the test. However, Dr |
| Official estimates of hypothyroidism in Western | | | | Barry Durrant-Peatfield, in common with many |
| populations vary from two to seven per cent, | | | | other thyroid experts, regards even the recently |
| although some experts believe it is significantly | | | | revised limit in the US for 'normal' TSH levels of |
| under-diagnosed, and that the true percentage is | | | | 3.0 µU/ml as too high. His experience with |
| probably as high as thirty per cent. Whatever the | | | | patients has led him to believe that a level of 2.0 |
| case, hypothyroidism appears to be increasing and | | | | µU/ml should arouse suspicion, and anything |
| this is starting to attract the attention of | | | | over 2.5 µU/ml should be diagnostic and |
| researchers, clinicians and government health | | | | therefore treated as hypothyroidism. |
| departments as an emerging public health problem. | | | | So if you have some of the symptoms in the list |
| So how do you tell if you might have an | | | | above, and particularly if you are having difficulty |
| underactive thyroid? Lack of energy, weight gain, | | | | in losing weight, ask your physician to test you |
| dry, pale skin, feeling cold all the time and | | | | for low thyroid. Be aware of the issues |
| depression are the most well known symptoms. | | | | surrounding current methods of testing and make |
| But low thyroid can cause a surprisingly wide | | | | sure you get copies of the actual test results so |
| variety of symptoms, which can be totally | | | | that you can compare them with the reference |
| different from individual to individual. Many of the | | | | ranges used by those thyroid specialists who |
| symptoms are also symptoms of other | | | | believe the current 'normal' ranges are too wide. |
| conditions. For these reasons, and because | | | | Similarly, if you have been tested in the past and |
| physicians are generally unaware that | | | | told the results were normal, get tested again and |
| hypothyroidism is so common, hypothyroidism is | | | | ask for the actual values. If the TSH is above 2.5 |
| a frequently missed diagnosis. | | | | µU/ml, bring the new ranges to your |
| An example of this is the person who complains | | | | physician's attention and ask for a trial of thyroid |
| of putting on weight unexpectedly or being unable | | | | hormone replacement. |
| to lose weight despite a modest calorie intake. | | | | Unfortunately, agreement of your physician to |
| Such a person is almost automatically assumed to | | | | treat you for hypothyroidism is not the end of |
| be overeating and told to reduce calorie intake. | | | | the story. There is also controversy over |
| Even if they ask whether it could be their thyroid, | | | | medication and dosage. The 'alternative' thyroid |
| they are unlikely to be tested. | | | | experts feel that patients are not best served by |
| Or take depression. What thyroid expert Dr Barry | | | | the usual treatment (consisting of replacement of |
| Durrant-Peatfield says is quite shocking: "Any | | | | thyroxine - called T4 for short). This is not the |
| patient suffering from depression should be | | | | only hormone that a healthy thyroid secretes, and |
| routinely assessed for hypothyroidism. There | | | | they believe that many hypothyroid patients fail |
| should be no exceptions; half to one third will be | | | | to achieve 100 per cent improvement without the |
| found to be hypothyroid, and as a result of | | | | other hormones. The reluctance to prescribe |
| treatment, their depression will begin to lift in | | | | better alternatives appears to be down to a |
| weeks." How many people are being treated for | | | | mixture of historical practice, mainstream doctors' |
| depression with medications or psychiatric | | | | reliance on the drug companies who make the |
| counseling, when in actual fact they just need | | | | synthetic T4 preparations for information about |
| their thyroid fixed? | | | | treatment options, and a lack of research interest |
| Yet another example is high cholesterol. Studies | | | | in the subject. |
| show that more than ten per cent of people with | | | | Dosage is a further area of controversy. Complex |
| high cholesterol have hypothyroidism, but | | | | feedback loops that govern the workings of your |
| unfortunately most people with high cholesterol | | | | thyroid mean that it is actually possible to make a |
| are not tested for this. That's a lot of people who | | | | patient worse by giving too small a dose of |
| are taking cholesterol-lowering drugs needlessly. | | | | thyroxine. Many physicians are also constrained in |
| CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) or ME is another | | | | their prescribing by blood test results and the |
| condition which experts believe is in many cases | | | | official reference ranges for 'normal', rather than |
| actually misdiagnosed hypothyroidism. Low fertility | | | | by their patient's clinical symptoms. Some |
| and repeated miscarriages is another. Other | | | | hypothyroid patients fail to improve until their TSH |
| problems that can be caused by hypothyroidism | | | | falls to 0.3 or lower, but most mainstream |
| include: | | | | physicians are reluctant to let it drop to even to |
| - brittle nails, hair loss, boils and spots, eczema and | | | | that level. |
| psoriasis, hoarse voice, slow speech | | | | It seems therefore that hypothyroids have had a |
| - constipation and haemorrhoids, painful irregular | | | | raw deal for a long time. Happily, word is starting |
| periods | | | | to spread amongst thyroid patients that a better |
| - muscle weakness, muscle and joint pain and | | | | quality of life is possible, and patients are starting |
| stiffness, shooting pains in hands and feet, carpal | | | | to become indignant and vociferous in their |
| tunnel syndrome | | | | demands for better diagnosis and better |
| - gallstones, visual disturbances, breathlessness, | | | | treatment. An indication of this is the recent |
| halitosis, candida (intestinal yeast overgrowth) | | | | proliferation of thyroid patients' websites, providing |
| - impotence, loss of libido, bladder irritation and | | | | information about alternative treatments and |
| frequency | | | | helping fellow patients to locate physicians |
| - deafness and tinnitus (ringing in the ears), ankle | | | | experienced in using them. Helpful sites include |
| swelling, palpitations, anxiety and panic attacks | | | | 'Stop the Thyroid Madness' and 'Thyroid Patient |
| - ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), | | | | Advocacy'. |
| poor memory, poor concentration and slow | | | | Although the cause of the increase in |
| thinking | | | | hypothyroidism is unknown, there is an interesting |
| Even if hypothyroidism is considered as a possible | | | | theory. This relates to iodine, which is critical for a |
| diagnosis by the physician, the problem doesn't | | | | healthy thyroid. Hypothyroidism is widespread in |
| end there. Thyroid tests fail to pick up many | | | | upland areas of the world which are far from the |
| cases - the current 'normal' ranges for thyroid | | | | sea where food is grown on iodine-poor soils. |
| test results are quite wide, and thought by many | | | | Many countries have a national salt iodization |
| thyroid experts to be wrong. Sanford Siegal, DO, | | | | program to combat this problem. Ironically, this |
| MD, a US thyroid specialist, believes that about | | | | may be having the opposite effect in some cases. |
| ten per cent of the population is hypothyroid but | | | | The trouble is that too much iodine is just as |
| that maybe only half test positive with the blood | | | | harmful to the thyroid as too little. And it is |
| tests that are currently used. | | | | possible that people who consume a lot of fast |
| Dr Siegal's experience with patients who test | | | | food, canned or prepackaged foods or eat in |
| negative but have clinical symptoms of | | | | restaurants regularly could easily be consuming |
| hypothyroidism is that there is often marked | | | | between 8 and 10 grams of iodized salt per day. |
| improvement when thyroid supplementation is | | | | This would provide more than four times the |
| given. His experience has led him to believe that | | | | recommended daily allowance of iodine. Could this |
| around a quarter of those who have difficulty in | | | | be a contributing factor to the increasing rate of |
| losing weight fall into this category and benefit | | | | hypothyroidism in Western populations, and in |
| from thyroid treatment. | | | | turn, to the increasing rates of obesity? |
| The test at the centre of the thyroid testing | | | | More information on how undiagnosed or |
| controversy is the TSH. This test measures the | | | | undertreated low thyroid may make losing weight |
| amount of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone your | | | | difficult can be found in the e-book "Why Can't I |
| pituitary gland releases. If it is high, it means your | | | | Lose Weight - The Real Reasons Diets Fail And |
| thyroid hormone production is low and the | | | | What To Do About It". |
| pituitary is sending repeated chemical signals to | | | | |