| Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, also known as | | | | ignoring the real problem. |
| AutoimmuneThyroid, is the most common cause of | | | | Now compare Hashimoto's disease to a leaky bucket. |
| hypothyroidism in the United States, and people all over | | | | If we had a bucket full of water that was slowly |
| the world suffer from this particular type of thyroid | | | | leaking we could take two approaches. We could try |
| disease. Simply defined, Hashimoto's Autoimmune | | | | to pour water into the top as fast, or faster than the |
| Thyroid is the result of the bodies own immune | | | | water is leaking out. Or the second option, and |
| system becoming dysfunctional and beginning to | | | | obviously the wiser and better long term solution would |
| attack and destroy your own gland. | | | | be to repair the leak while we were keeping the |
| The fundamental thing to understand from a patient | | | | bucket full. |
| perspective is that Hashimoto's is an immune problem | | | | When Hashimoto's is treated with only a thyroid |
| not a thyroid problem. The immune system is | | | | replacement hormone, it is like putting water into the |
| destroying the gland, and that is the reason the thyroid | | | | top of the bucket. The immune system is destroying |
| is producing less hormone. | | | | the gland, and producing less thyroid hormone, so we |
| The standard treatment of Hashimoto's disease is to | | | | are going to dump thyroid hormone back into the blood |
| give a synthetic or even natural thyroid hormone | | | | stream, but completely ignore the leak, which is the |
| replacement, and then alter the dose until the TSH | | | | immune attack in this case. |
| drops below a certain level. At this point the condition is | | | | So if you suffer with Hashimoto's disease, and you are |
| considered managed well. This type of approach gives | | | | faithfully taking your thyroid replacement every day, |
| little thought to the patients symptoms, or how the | | | | ask yourself "what about the immune attack?" How |
| patient is actually responding. As soon as the lab | | | | much more thyroid cells are going to be destroyed if |
| numbers come back "normal", any remaining thyroid | | | | the immune system isn't specifically addressed? |
| symptoms get attributed to something else. | | | | Modulating and calming the immune system is certainly |
| Consider depression that is caused by decreased | | | | difficult. It requires the doctor to step back and look at |
| thyroid function. Depression is a possible symptom of | | | | the big picture. Immune triggers must be identified and |
| hypothyroidism. So if the thyroid panel moves into the | | | | dealt with in systematic manner. Then immune system |
| normal range, and the depression remains, you end up | | | | must be 'dissected' and looked at from a functional |
| at a psychiatrist, or with a prescription for an | | | | perspective in terms of overall immune configuration |
| antidepressant. Are you depressed or still suffering | | | | and in terms of immune dominance. It is this approach |
| from the original thyroid symptoms? This is the | | | | that is required to slow and repair the leak, instead of |
| problem with giving replacement thyroid hormone and | | | | just dumping water in the top. |