The internet explosion and world globalization have made everything accessible to everyone, and this is one of the reasons for I have been finding not more interesting to write or engaged or inspired.
But there have been other reasons too, like for example, moving and travelling. I have been moving and travelling quite often these last years, from a country to another, and a State to another, but this last period a little bit more!
This could be one of the reasons for repetitive “stress” for me, a word pretty much associate with thyroid and that was not missing in my life!
In the medical and scientific world stress is a positive thing, a stimulation in life, an input to do better, to achieve goals and succeed, but when is the result of stressful situations, and/or unwanted circumstances, it becomes a negative thing and the body has to deal with, and the result over time can be devastating, as we can hear and learn constantly from the scientists and physicians of all the type and specialization of all around the world.
Thyroid is a gland with the shape of a butterfly, with many important functions and pretty much exposed to the environment, and so to the toxins! Under the definition of Dr. Alan Christianson, naturopath and adrenal and thyroid specialist, thyroid is like an “hoarder”, it crabs everything; easy so for this gland to get full of waste or to mistake the absorption of its own elements, like iodine, for example, essential to the production of the thyroid hormones, T3 and T4.
My major source of information of last years for thyroid are three specialists that I follow from time: Dr. Alan Christianson, Dr. Izabella Wentz and Dr. Suzy Cohen, all New York Time Best Sellers authors. There are, of course, thousands more of specialists around the world, and internet definitions, but these doctors are detailed and meticulous as much as an encyclopedia; in addition they keep writing articles, organizing webinars and/ or participating to world summits to inform and constantly update about new founds and discovers.
Everyone knows about thyroid and its dysfunctions today, mainly hypo and hyperthyroidism and thousand of people are affected all around the world.
I have previously mentioned about the epidemic explosion of these last years of thyroid disease in US and around the world, there have been summits and webinars in regard and the information has been spread all over, before of this internet explosion things were different.
I remember that at the begin of my treatment in US the same doctors did not know much about, and was also not easy to find endocrinologists, while in Italy, my country, things were already common.
Many people, and mainly women just get thyroid dysfunction for physiologic reasons in life, as with the hypothyroidism post-partum or during the menopause and post-menopause period, but this can be transitory and regulated with thyroid hormones doses for short periods.
Hashimotos’ is the main cause of thyroid disease, is an autoimmune disease and is a life-long disease unless people are capable to follow these doctors’ protocols and suggestions, mainly as dietary and supplements recommendations and lifestyle.
The disease can be reversed for these doctors to the point that will be not more necessary being on thyroid hormones but simply on natural complexes that include the essential elements for thyroid, like selenium and iodine, for example. It seems that selenium has the property to lower the antibodies levels in the arch of a year or so, the doses must be monitored because of the toxicity that this element can cause.
Most important is to discover the root cause of the development of the autoimmune process because in the moment we found the reason why the antibodies are attacking our own tissues we can lower the autoimmune process or even to reverse.
For Dr. Izabella Wentz general root causes for thyroid disease are nutrients deficiency, food sensitivities, impaired ability to handle stress and detoxifying, leaky gut and chronic infections like Epstein Barr, Helicobacter Pylori, Blastocyst Homines, Lyme disease, and others.
Dr. Alan Christianson, as already mentioned, compares the thyroid to an hoarder that absorbs everything from the environment, and mistakes other elements for iodine, like perchlorate in soil, mercury in amalgama and seafood, cadmium from cigarettes and second hand smoke, BPA in plastic, pesticides in food chain and so on.
Thyroid dysfunction is common in women, the genetic plays its role and the family connections as well, Hashimoto’s runs in families. The immune system is overwhelmed, there is too much to control for the system becomes hyperactive and slowing the autoimmunity process develops.
Too many triggers are involved, pollution, depletion of ozone in the atmosphere, no protection from U.V., the food chain, the glyphosates in the ground that through animals arrive to the food, and all the conditions for stress today is the number one reason to get sick.
Chemicals bind to albumin which is a transfer molecule and are not recognized from the immune system generating the autoimmune process, but there are different mechanisms for this, and mainly molecular mimicry and cross-reactivity are the major mechanisms responsible to the development of autoimmunity.
Detoxification from toxins is one of the major problems for Hashimotos’ patients. Drastic detox is not good for thyroid, better moving metals from the environment than from the body, but as more times repeated in different cases discussed and analyzed, glutathione is the best body antioxidant and liver detoxifier, and selenium is an essential element for its production as much as N-acetyl-cysteine.
Water is the best solvent for diluting toxins and the doctors cannot emphasize the essentiality of using purified water and air filters in the indoor environment.
Para benzene in plastic and talete in fragrances are toxins that activate estrogens which are protooncogenes, the doctors have also been talking extensively in regard.
Mold toxicity triggers autoimmune and adrenal dysfunction, they can be found in the environment and in foods like nuts, peanut, coffee, beer, chocolate, and others.
Methylation is very important to get rid of toxins from the body, for example, the arsenic that in low level can be present in water and foods like rice and apple can be converted through the methylation process in a metabolite not more toxic and that can be eliminated from the body; MTHFR is usually associate with thyroid dysfunction.
Multiple chemical sensitivity is a regular problem for people with Hashimotos’ and natural detoxification is the best option: sweating, sauna, water, and compounds as N-acetyl-cysteine, or same glutathione, and methylation-support are essential.
For Dr. Suzy Cohen the major toxins for thyroid are the cadmium in cigarettes, the chlorine in pools, the fluoride in water and toothpastes, and the bromine from gas of new cars.
Dr. Cohen as mainly a pharmacist was always underlying the importance of the diagnostic tests for Hashimotos’, as the most of us know, the typical tests to monitor thyroid function when the disease is already in progress are TSH and T4, but we also know that T3 is the active hormone that enters into the cells to activate the metabolic processes and that there are biochemical conversions to let this this happen.
This is the reason why for these doctors and not simply Dr. Cohen it is important to test T3 and rT3, or reverse T3 which is a molecule that blocks the site for T3, high levels of this can justify problems that cannot be associate with a normal function of thyroid because of a normal TSH and T4 .
There are controversies about iodine for thyroid, and Dr. Alan Christianson is the major reporter about this. We need iodine to make thyroid hormones, but in case of autoimmunity with anti-TPO antibodies, iodine will put fire on gasoline, will increase the inflammation, only in case of goiter with iodine deficiency, iodine, of course, is fundamental. Sea salt is better for autoimmune thyroid, and not iodine salt.
The role of microbiome is essential as well, we all know now that “all the diseases begin in the gut”, toxic substances released from bad bacteria dying are the cause of many problems.
With hypothyroidism there is normally low stomach acid, low digestion, constipation and bloating in this case digestive enzymes are suggested, and a variety of natural ailments to support the stomach acid production.
Gluten, one of the major trigger for Hashimotos’ is not easy to be digested from some people in general and even if does not create immediate problems to muscle and joints, fatigue and allergies, decrease the production of IgA. Gluten can resemble our own tissues for cross reactivity, for the antibodies will attack our own body in response to a gluten introduction.
Intestinal permeability and leaky gut are the reason for the intolerance and from here for the development of the autoimmune process.
Dr. Datis Karrazian, other specialists involved with thyroid looks at the other aspects of the disease and mainly at the involvement of brain. Thyroid regulates all the body functions and systems and of course also the brain can be affected either if there is a low function due to hypothyroidism either because the antibodies can be directed to the brain.
With hyperthyroidism all the functions are hyper and mainly there will be extreme anxiety and palpitations, and there is goiter, the solutions in the extreme cases are surgery and radioactive iodine, while with hypothyroidism there is more fatigue and depression, muscle and joints problems, dehydration and more, a slow metabolism with all its consequences. In both cases there is body’s temperature regulation problems, low with hypo-function and high with hyper-function.
There is not a magic pill to reverse the condition, it takes time and willing power, steps for improvement mainly for Dr. Wentz are:
Removing of the triggers, either if they are foods or an environmental cause or an infectious agent, drinking more water, filtered better, adding gut repairing foods like: bone broth, fermented foods and prebiotics as fibers and healthy fats, omegas 3 foods and supplements, vegetables and fruit in moderation, balancing stomach acid, restoring microbiome flora.
The variety and diversity of foods are important, the rainbow diet, and fresh and organic are the main recommendations. Organic foods are filled with good bacteria, raw foods are important as well for the preservation of nutrients, essential for thyroid where the most recommended are foods dense and rich of nutrients, sulfides for detoxification and minerals for supporting most of the body functions.
Fixing hormone imbalance is also to take in consideration, more important controlling infections with herbs and homeopathic medicine, the balance of cortisol and melatonin is necessary for the sleeping cycle, people with hypothyroidism requires good and restoring sleep.
As with all the chronic conditions the better we learn to accept the condition and to deal with, the better will be the healing and repairing process; with this specific pathology there are of course a number of ups and downs since we are not capable to control everything in life, or we cannot always avoid of doing wrong things, but more we learn more we can cope with our destiny.
Thanks for reading.
Mariarosaria Malham
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