Dr. Mercola September 10 2000 13,132 views
Finally, conventional medicine is recognizing what those of us in "Natural" medicine have known all along.
A new double-blind placebo-controlled trial has demonstrated that symptoms of hypothyroidism can be improved in patients receiving the synthetic thyroid hormone, levothyroxine, despite the fact that they didn't quite meet the current guidelines to be considered hypothyroid (subclinical hypothyroidism).
This may be one of the first studies indicating that thyroid replacement therapy can benefit patients with subclinical hypothyroidism.
Researchers from Switzerland conducted a 12-month, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to investigate the clinical and metabolic effects of levothyroxine replacement in patients with different degrees of subclinical hypothyroidism.
Sixty-three women (avg. age 57 years) with subclinical hypothyroidism
Patients, having an average TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) of 12.7 mcU/mL (range 4.5-50) were randomized to receive either levothyroxine (mean dose 83 mcg/day) or placebo and TSH levels were monitored.
In the levothyroxine group, mean TSH decreased to 3 mcU/mL and total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol improved significantly.
Although the researchers admit that additional studies are needed in patients with milder hypothyroidism, they feel that in general, there seems to be increasing evidence towards treating these patients as well because of possible beneficial effects on cardiovascular function, lipids, and symptoms.
82nd Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society Boston, Mass. August 2000.
This is one of the first studies that documents the validity of using a lower TSH value for the diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism. I have written extensively about this in the past and have been interviewed about this by Mary Shomon at About.com. It is encouraging to see this actually documented in the clinical literature.
This is a European study and they use a slightly different reference range than we do in the US, as the normals here are 0.4 to 5.5. However, if one were to transfer their findings over to our measurements they are calling anyone over 1.0 positive. I think that this is a bit too low to treat with thyroid replacement however.
My concern is that one would likely have to commit the patient to a life long replacement of thyroid. My preference is Armour thyroid, but it is far better to identify and resolve the cause of the thyroid problem rather than treat it with a natural hormone. My experience is that thyroid impairment is frequently due to adrenal dysfunction.
So some simple lifestyle changes to address to normalize thyroid function before considering hormone replacement would be to:
Get to bed before 10PM (9PM in the winter)
Have some mechanism to cope with emotional stress
Eat a good diet, especially excluding soy which can harm the thyroid
Don't smoke
Some supplements that might be helpful:
Pesticides Targeting West Nile-Carrying Mosquitoes May be a Thyroid Danger Chemical in Water May Damage Thyroid Diagnosis of Hypothyroidism Treatment of Hypothyroidism New Thyroid Screening Recommendations
Pesticides Targeting West Nile-Carrying Mosquitoes May be a Thyroid Danger
Chemical in Water May Damage Thyroid
Diagnosis of Hypothyroidism
Treatment of Hypothyroidism
New Thyroid Screening Recommendations
Regarding the issue of hypothyroidism - I live in an iodine deficient area (Central America). Each three months, I test for iodine deficiency by painting a patch of 2% or 3% tincture of iodine on the thin skin at the base of the abdomen or high on the inside of a thigh. the size depends on wieght (at 190lbs I use a silver dollar sized patch). if any portion of the patch is still visible after 24 hours, then there is no deficiency. If the patch is absorbed within 24 hours, there is a deficiency, which is treated by painting another patch until it lasts 24 hours. I think that i might have read about this method from Dr. Mercola or Dr. David G. Williams some years ago. It is quick, easy, cheap, and seems to work well. Any comments about this method?