The average temperature of the human body is no longer 98.6 (F). This often quoted average was determined in the nineteenth century, but a more recent study has reported an average body temperature of 98.2. Many medical professionals believe this decrease in body heat is the result of an increasing prevalence of hypothroidism. Whatever the answer is, one thing is sure. More people than ever are suffering from the large number of symptoms associated with low thyroid levels, especially women.
Thyroid is the most important hormone in the body. Because it stimulates cellular energy production, the production of all other hormones will be negatively impacted when thyroid hormone levels are not optimal. In fact, every aspect of health is affected by low thyroid function.
Hypothyroidism is behind many disease states
Hypothyroidism is signaled by fatigue and loss of energy. People with the disease don’t have any sparkle when they get up in the morning. As the day goes on they find themselves falling asleep sitting in meetings or while driving on the highway, reading or watching TV. The only time they feel energized is from movement, such as jogging or doing housework. As soon as the task is completed and they sit down, chances are good they will start to nod off.
Yet while they are fatigued, low thyroid people can be hyperactive at the same time. Thyroid expert Dr. Alan Gaby reported a study of 49 people diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Among them, 61 percent met diagnostic criteria for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). When thyroid hormone is deficient, the nerves require abnormal stimulation to function and the body produces excess adrenalin to keep it going. The result is that people become tired and tense at the same time.
Symptoms of Low Thyroid Function
People with low thyroid exhibit many of the characteristics that are blamed on aging, with difficulty concentrating being the most blatant. They tend to flit from task to task and often accomplish little they set out to do. They can find themselves standing in front of an open refrigerator and unable to remember what they are there to get. They may have difficulty reading, having to read sentences again because their mind wandered off the first time.
Low thyroid sufferers are always the coldest people in the room, and their body temperatures can get as low as 95 degrees (F) in the cold winter months. People with low to very low levels of thyroid can experience the cold as extremely painful, and they plan their activities with minimizing exposure to cold weather as a priority. They also have trouble dealing with heat, and usually find comfort only in a very narrow range of temperatures, usually in the lower 70s. They are quite uncomfortable in overly heated rooms.
Other symptoms include inexplicable weight gain, painful premenstrual periods, fertility problems, muscle weakness and cramps, dry skin, yellow bumps on the eyelids, hair loss that can include the lower third of the eyebrows, susceptibility to infection, migraines, hoarseness, constipation, depression, difficulty getting words out when speaking, and goiter.
Other Health Issues Low Thyroid Can Cause
Miscarriage, fibrocystic breast disease, ovarian fibroids, cystic ovaries, endometriosis, and PMS are caused or aggravated by hypothyroidism, especially when it’s coupled with estrogen dominance, a condition that happens as progesterone levels decline starting in the late 20s. This is because estrogen inhibits thyroid secretion, while progesterone stimulates it.
A recent study to determine the prevalence of hypothyroidism in patients with benign breast disorders found that 23.2% of the women tested had unsuspected hypothyroidism.
Low thyroid can contribute to inability to let go of old hurts and angers, particularly against your mate.
A good night’s sleep eludes the person with low thyroid who may fall asleep easily but awaken after only a few hours and be unable to return to sleep for the rest of the night. Headaches can often plague low thyroid sufferers, not only migraines but also stress and tension headaches.
There is a connection between multiple sclerosis (MS) and low thyroid. In a study by thyroid researcher Dr. Ray Peat, it was found that thyroid therapy caused MS symptoms to disappear in patients who had no other obvious causes such as heavy metal poisoning.
Depression is a classic symptom of low thyroid. Women with low thyroid are the most susceptible to severe bouts of post-partum depression following childbirth, when progesterone is a its low point, and thyroid treatment helps restore their emotional equilibrium.
Dr. Broda Barnes, who runs a not-for-profit organization dedicated to research in the field of thyroid and metabolic balance, has found that the cardiovascular complications of diabetes are due to low thyroid function rather than insulin.
In another study, reseachers in Italy examined the occurrence of coronary artery disease and long-term prognosis in patients without a history of primary thyroid disease, myocardial infarction, or chronic heart failure to determine if their coronary artery disease related to serum low levels of active thyroid hormone. They found that patients with low thyroid hormone level had an adverse prognosis, even after adjusting for traditional coronary risk factors.
Thyroid hormone deficiency has a direct effect on cancer and tumor development. When hormone level is low, the pumping action of the heart is weakened, and red blood cells fail to provide proper oxygenation for body tissues and organs.
Low thyroid and weight
Although the common perception of low thyroid people is that they are overweight, many people with low thyroid are underweight, so weight alone is not a determining factor. If the person is overweight, most of the extra weight is in water, not actual fat. People with low thyroid can drink and drink, but hardly ever need to urinate. Thyroid treatment can help an anorexic or other sick person gain weight.
Diet and environment have a major impact on thyroid function
What is happening to our thyroids to cause such problems? Dr. Lita Lee, reporting on the work of Drs. Peat and Barnes, says that the majority of people seen in doctors’ offices have some form of thyroid dysfunction. She notes that radiation is the greatest environmental cause of hypothyroidism and other thyroid problems, including tumors and thyroid cancer. Since Chernobyl and Fukushima, radioactive fallout has become a worldwide phenomenon. But her hypothesis remains unproven for lack of an unexposed control group.
Epidemiological studies of radiation downwinders have found that this group shows many of the symptoms of hypothyroidism, including chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. According to Dr. Peat, fibromyalgia is a combination of edema, inflammation and low blood sugar, all symptoms of hypothyroidism. He too believes that radiation is a major culprit in the hypothyroid epidemic.
“Organic animal protein is essential for the production of thyroid hormone and its conversion to the active form in the liver. Veganism leads to low thyroid function and low cholesterol which can lead to all of the major chronic degenerative diseases,” says Dr. Lee. She sees women as especially vulnerable because of estrogen dominance and their inability to produce progesterone after the mid 20’s. Because pesticides mimic estrogen in the body, she urges women to consume only organic produce.
Use of polyunsaturated oils contributes to low thyroid function whether the oils are processed or not. These include soybean, canola, safflower and corn oil. According to Dr. Peat, “the more unsaturated the oil is, the more strongly it interferes with thyroid secretion, the transport of thyroid hormone in the blood, and the response of the tissue thyroid receptors.” Olive, coconut and palm oils, and saturated fats from animals do not compromise thyroid health.
Dr. John Lee, famed Harvard Medical School Professor and author, cautioned that unfermented soy products contain goitrogens, substances that inhibit thyroid function and the conversion of T4, the inactive form of thyroid hormone, to T3, the active form of thyroid hormone. Genistein, an isoflavone found in soybeans, can block thyroid hormone production. A transport protein called GLUT1 is shut down by genistein. This protein sends glucose into the cells, where it is used to generate energy. Slowing the transport of glucose means less energy production not only for thyroid hormone, but for every other action in the body. Phytate found in unsoaked nuts and legumes can accentuate these effects because it binds zinc and copper, leaving little of these important minerals available for the production of thyroid hormone.
Other notable causes of severe hypothyroidism include fluoride from water, foods and toothpaste. Synthetic and genetically engineered hormones used in birth control pills, hormone substitution drug therapy, and as growth stimulants in the non-organic production of food animals block the release of thyroid hormone from the thyroid gland. And while iodine is critical to thyroid functioning, too much can become a powerful thyroid inhibitor.
How to determine if you have a sluggish thyroid
There is no accurate medical test for thyroid function, according to Dr. Lita Lee, who says that anyone who has high cholesterol is practically assured of having hypothyroidism, because thyroid hormone controls the conversion of cholesterol into important anti-aging hormones and to bile salts. The lack of this conversion causes cholesterol levels to rise. However, many people with low cholesterol from a depressed immune system or from eating a low-protein diet may also have hypothyroidism.
Dr. Barnes introduced the Basal Temperature Test as a way to determine adequate thyroid function. To do this test, the oral temperature is measured with a digital thermometer immediately after waking in the morning and before getting out of bed or consuming anything. This temperature should be no lower than 98.0 degrees F. It should then rise to 98.6 to 99 degrees during the daylight hours, and the resting pulse should be about 85 beats per minute. If temperature and pulse rates are below these levels, hypothyroidism is indicated.
What you can do about low thyroid
If you tell your conventional doctor that you suspect you have low thyroid function, his or her answer will be to put you on thyroid hormone substitution drugs such as Synthroid or Levoxyl. This is his approach because he has not been taught how to support the thyroid. Pharmaceutical companies like this answer, because once you start taking these drugs, you are on them for life. Thyroid drugs can suppress what natural thyroid function you have left to the point where your thyroid gland ceases to work at all and you are completely dependent on them.
A better approach is to try a supplement like Thyrostim, which provides thyroid support with vitamin A, critical minerals including iodine, glandular extract, and L-tyrosine, the amino acid that targets thyroid hormone production. If that makes you feel better, great. If not, ask your doctor for natural thyroid hormone replacement, such as Armour Thyroid. He or she will probably tell you that is no good, but if you keep pushing, he will probably write a prescription for it. If not, seek out a doctor who specializes in hormone replacement or anti-aging medicine.
