The Misunderstood Thyroid
I have for years found it interesting how so many patients I see weekly, daily, yearly are overlooked, mismanaged, underappreciated or flat out disregarded about their thyroid symptoms and or thyroid condition.
Most individuals understand that thyroid regulates their weight and energy. So if they are gaining weight and tired they run to their doctor and say I need my Thyroid tested because of these symptoms. Most good doctors will consider it and run a laboratory that at least looks at TSH, and maybe T3 or Total T4, maybe. If these labs fall into “the normal range” then you’re told your fine. You could be told, “Maybe your just getting older and worn out, maybe it’s in your head.”
Misunderstood Thyroid – Personalized Functional Medical Doctor Who Cares
Well, there’s a lot, a lot more to Thyroid and it’s highly under appreciated! Your Thyroid gland is in your neck. The Thyroid gland produces 4 types of thyroid hormone and if even one of them is off you could experience a multitude of symptoms. Why? Because it is a up-regulator of all your bodies hormone receptors. Meaning when the thyroid is off many other hormones likely will be off. So you could experience hormonal issues that mimic sex hormone loss like menopause, male andropause, insulin irregularity etc. Thus Thyroid symptoms can range from weight gain to cold body temperature to hair loss to poor sleep, to depression and apathy and on and on.
Also, your thyroid gland and thus the hormones they produce does degrade with age. The gland typically swells with age, mineral loss and nutrient deficiencies and failure follow. So how can we prevent all this and be proactive? First, is understand we all with aging need a thorough lab screening for thyroid decline. And at least once every few years a full thyroid lab panel, i.e., TSH, free T3, free T4, TPO, THO abs. ( Thyroid autoimmune labs ).
Your diet, gut health, and nutrients that help the thyroid gland work are important to consider also. Often I find a women’s iron or ferritin (iron stores) to be low and that is one of the primary feeders to the thyroid gland to work properly.
Women after menopause, in general, have higher rates of low Thyroid or Hoshimottos thyroiditis. Unfortunately, I diagnosis more than a few new Hoshimottos cases weekly.
Treating someone’s subclinical, borderline or overt Thyroid condition is paramount to be Well and living Optimally.
So if you don’t believe your symptoms are in “your head “, just maybe there in your neck.
Talk to a Wellness Functional Medical doctor.