Screening women for thyroid problems should be part of routine prenatal testing because it could help to reduce miscarriages, since new research has shown that pregnant women with underactive thyroid glands have a four-fold increased risk of miscarriage in the second three months of pregnancy than other women.
About 2% of pregnant women suffer from hypothyroidism, which can lead to:
Researchers performed a study of 9,000 pregnant women and found that:
Expectant mothers with elevated levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) had a 3.8% risk of late miscarriage. Pregnant women without the problem had only a 0.9% miscarriage risk.
According to the authors, six out of every 100 late miscarriages could be attributed to a thyroid problem.
"Because little is known about the cause of late miscarriages, our findings offer a new opportunity to possibly prevent some of these," according to Allan.
"Further research may show that early detection and treatment for maternal hypothyroidism is the key to preventing these miscarriages," he said.
Journal of Medical Screening
Generally the adrenal glands are responsible for an impaired thyroid and addressing this at the adrenal level is usually helpful in resolving the thyroid problem. Optimized salivary hormone testing of the adrenals can help guide one to a resolution of this problem. However, usually there is an emotional component which needs to be resolved. Optimal sleep and a diet low in grains and sugar will also be useful in restoring adrenal health.
It is also important to properly assess thyroid function if you are having trouble conceiving, as this can dramatically affect fertility. Properly addressing the thyroid problems may allow couples trying to conceive to avoid the use of high-tech and invasive procedures such as in vitro fertilization.
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