Since the 1970s seve­ral new health issues and diseases have been “dis­co­ve­red”. In 1980, Chro­nic Fati­gue Syn­drome and fibrom­yal­gia were first noted. High cho­les­te­rol wasn’t con­si­de­red a wides­pread health pro­blem until the 1970s, and depres­sion has become an epi­de­mic. In 1982, osteo­po­ro­sis also became a health issue.

In fact, all these health issues have become clo­sely rela­ted to undiag­no­sed or under­trea­ted hypothyroidism.

For nearly 100 years, hypothy­roid patients were given desic­ca­ted por­cine thy­roid (dried thy­roid gland from pigs), and doses were inc­rea­sed until all symp­toms were gone. Synthroid became the treat­ment of choice for hypothy­roi­dism by the 1970s. This new drug con­tains only the sto­rage thy­roid hor­mone known as T4, lea­ving patients undertreated.

Dr. John C. Lowe has docu­men­ted clear rela­tionships bet­ween fibrom­yal­gia and thy­roid func­tion. In fact, fibrom­yal­gia patients bene­fit from thy­roid treat­ment that inc­lu­des the T3 hor­mone. Simi­larly, in the maga­zine “Alter­na­tive Medi­cine,” Dr. Raphael Kell­man indica­ted that an unde­rac­tive thy­roid may be the cause of Chro­nic Fatigue.

From an article by Irene Ale­ger, “The myth of osteo­po­ro­sis began with the selling of hormone repla­ce­ment the­rapy (HRT). With no evi­dence that HRT would even pre­vent or treat osteo­po­ro­sis, a major pro­mo­tio­nal cam­paign in 1982 by the phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal company pro­du­cing the synthe­tic hor­mone, sug­ges­ted that it could pre­vent this disfiguring and disa­bling disease. Most dis­tur­bing, was the idea pro­mul­ga­ted that all women are at risk for osteo­po­ro­sis, after meno­pause.”

The truth is that when hypothy­roid patients are not diag­no­sed, or are ina­de­qua­tely trea­ted with T4-only medi­ca­tions, phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal com­pa­nies make a for­tune from the drugs presc­ri­bed to treat what are essen­tially hypothy­roid symp­toms. Abbott Labs made $541.3 million in 2000 on Synth­roid alone. SSRIs are widely presc­ri­bed for depres­sion; add in the pro­fit the drug com­pa­nies make from sta­tins for cho­les­te­rol, pain medi­ca­tions for fibrom­yal­gia, sleep aids for CFS and Fosa­max for osteo­po­ro­sis and the amount is staggering.

Natural Thyroid 101

What is desic­ca­ted natu­ral thy­roid?

Natu­ral Desic­ca­ted Por­cine Thy­roid, also called Natu­ral Thy­roid or Desic­ca­ted Thy­roid, con­tains the same hor­mo­nes that your own thy­roid would pro­duce: T4, T3, T2, T1 and cal­ci­to­nin, and that’s why patients have found it to work so well. T4 is the sto­rage hormone; T3 is the active, energy-giving hor­mone, and both are found in an 80/20 ratio in each 60 mg of desic­ca­ted thy­roid. The T2, T1 and cal­ci­to­nin is not mea­su­red, but it’s there, accor­ding to Forest Labs, the makers of Armour.

Are there any non-prescription desic­ca­ted thy­roid pro­ducts?

One more well-known over-the-counter (OTC) natu­ral thy­roid is called Nutri Meds which is avai­la­ble in either por­cine or bovine desic­ca­ted thy­roid. You may find other OTC pro­ducts on the shelf of your local health food store. But, these pro­ducts are not regu­la­ted, and the potency appears to be much less than presc­rip­tion desic­ca­ted thy­roid.

Why is desic­ca­ted thy­roid a bet­ter treat­ment?

Desic­ca­ted thy­roid is supe­rior to T4-only meds treat­ment (Synth­roid, Levoxyl, Eltro­xin, Nor­ton, etc) because it is natu­ral (your body accepts all of it, unless you have an allergy to por­cine), it con­tains both T4 (as the sto­rage hor­mone) and T3 (the most active hormone and neces­sary for every cell in your body), as well as T2, T1 and cal­ci­to­nin. T2 has an impor­tant role in meta­bo­lism. Cal­ci­to­nin is the hor­mone which keeps the cal­cium in your bones, and cer­tain doc­tors have noti­ced impro­ve­ment in bone den­sity with patients on natu­ral thyroid.

Are there any bene­fi­cial sup­ple­ments that I can take with desic­ca­ted thy­roid?

Many patients take a Sele­nium tablet with their thy­roid medications, which assists the T4 to T3 con­ver­sion. L-Tyrosine helps some patients, too. Your need for B-vitamins will inc­rease as you improve your energy levels. Some patients bene­fit from iodine supplementation. Opti­mi­zing your vitamin D levels can also be important.