Did you know that a significant percentage of the population is suffering from thyroid disease without even knowing it? If you want to achieve and maintain optimal health, a properly working thyroid gland is crucial. Holistic thyroid doctors can help you understand the health of your thyroid and discuss the benefits of alternative medicine for thyroid disease.
How is thyroid disease diagnosed?
Depression, weight gain, fatigue. Many of the health issues you experience could be the result of a malfunctioning thyroid. Unfortunately standard tests rarely detect these deficiencies, so often times thyroid disease goes undiagnosed, untreated, poorly treated or under treated. Specializing in alternative medicine for thyroid disease, holistic thyroid doctors can perform comprehensive testing to properly diagnose and treat your condition.
The tests for thyroid disease are notoriously inaccurate if not interpreted correctly.
- The so-called normal range for TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) is usually given as 0.45-4.5. The higher the TSH, the more likely it is that you have thyroid disease (assuming a normal pituitary gland and a normal immune system) However, substantial scientific evidence reveals that a TSH greater than 2.5 is actually quite significant for thyroid disease. In fact, a TSH >2.5 is associated with increased body weight, elevated LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, decreased HDL (“good”) cholesterol, greater risk of diabetes and stiffening of your arteries. So, as holistic thyroid doctors would tell you, if your TSH is greater than 2.5, you’re looking at a potentially serious medical condition, yet most traditional doctors are unaware of this information.
- How about if your TSH is < 2.5 or even lower, like 0.8, does this “rule out” a low functioning thyroid (hypothyroidism)? Actually no, because certain hormonal and immune system imbalances can result in a artificially low TSH secondary to a poorly functioning pituitary gland. Therefore you (and your traditional doctor) may be fooled into thinking that your thyroid is not one of the culprits in your poor health.
What are Some Symptoms of Hypothyroidism?
Holistic thyroid doctors get suspicious when you have high LDL cholesterol and/or low HDL cholesterol. It’s especially disconcerting if you suffer from constipation, depression, fatigue, diabetes, “brain fog”, hormonal imbalances (like high cortisol or elevated insulin or high estrogen or low testosterone or low progesterone), can’t lose weight, and a long list of other subtle findings like a thick tongue or slow deep tendon reflexes.
Alternative Medicine for Thyroid Disease
Still wondering how is thyroid disease diagnosed? Holistic thyroid doctors will do a battery of tests to look for thyroid disease, including checking for thyroid antibodies, levels of total T3, total T4, free T3, free T4, sex hormone binding gobulin (SHBG), ferritin, subtle clues in the CBC (complete blood count), lipid panel and other hormone levels that can affect your thyroid function.
The bottom line is that untreated, undertreated and mistreated thyroid disease is present at epidemic levels. Diagnosing and treating thyroid disease can be somewhat complex because of the web of interactions with other hormones, your immune system and your nervous system. You and your doctor must not rely simply on TSH testing to determine if you have thyroid disease. Seek out the help of holistic thyroid doctors for a thorough diagnosis and holistic treatment for thyroid disease.
