One of the ways that naturopathic medicine can have a success with hypothyroid cases is because naturopathic physicians look at all the potential reasons why hormones may not be working in the body.
Once we identify the underlying cause of the problem and make correction the body does what it can do best heal itself. Last time we talked about Hashimoto’s thyroiditis which is one form of hypothyroidism but there are others including euthyroidism which is a form of underactive thyroid hormone. The difficulty with euthyroidism is a thyroid disease where the blood test values come back normal however the patient is still experience symptoms.
Let’s look at some other factors that might be affecting your ability to have normal thyroid hormone function in your body. You get your blood tests back and you either have normal TSH values or high TSH values you could have hypothyroid problems. What is happening in the body is the TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) hormone is traveling to the thyroid gland and stimulating the thyroid to release the thyroid hormone. The thyroid hormone is released from the thyroid gland in an active form (T3) triiodothyronine and an inactive form (T4) thyroxine.
The thyroid gland releases 7% of the active thyroid hormone T3 which can then travels directly to the tissue to act to regulate metabolism or other thyroid functions for the tissue. The thyroid gland releases 94% of the inactive hormone form of the thyroid gland, T4. T4 has no ability to act on any of the body tissues. It has to travel to the liver to get converted to active form. An enzyme in the liver, 5’ deiodinase, converts 40% of T4 to active T3 and the rest is converted to an inactive form of T3. This inactive T3 then travels to the gastrointestinal tract and is acted on by intestinal sulfatase to become active.
I share the pathway with you to let you know that if you have problems with your liver, intestine, or the enzymes in the liver or intestine then it increases the probability that your thyroid function is being affected by these other organs. Correcting the problems in your liver and intestines can correct your thyroid hormone or at least improve your active thyroid hormone levels. Appropriate nutritional assessment can also play a major role in improving thyroid function because low levels of minerals like iodine, selenium and zinc can all decrease thyroid function. For more information about how I treat thyroid by combining blood tests and natural treatment, visit my site and drop me an e-mail on how I can help.
Live Vibrantly,
Dr. Dae
Dr. Dae's website: www.healthydaes.org
Dr. Dae's book: Daelicious! Recipes for Vibrant Living can be purchased @ www.amazon.com or www.healthydaes.org
Dr. Dae's Bio:
Daemon "Dr. Dae" (pronounced Dr. Day) Jones is a Naturopathic Physician who completed her training at the University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine. She is certified as a General Practitioner by the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners (NABNE). Dr. Dae provides tailored treatment to meet the unique needs of every individual she sees in her practice. She also provides specialized support for persons challenged by nutritional deficiencies, weight problems, hormonal and reproductive system disorders, attention deficit disorder and those experiencing chronic diseases. Dr. Dae is an adjunct faculty member for Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts. She is the author of Daelicious! Recipes for Vibrant Living, The Healthydaes Newsletter, and is a regularly featured writer for the Elite GoogleNews Website empowher.com where she shares her personal and professional vision for living whole and living well. To learn more about Dr. Dae, her products and services, please visit her on the Web at www.Healthydaes.org