Health and Wellness Consultants, Inc.

The thyroid gland produces 2 major hormones, Thyroxine (T4) and Triiodothyronine (T3).  These two hormones work inside the cells of the body , thyroids hormone helps the cells produce energy.  When there is not enough thyroid hormone produced like with hypothyroidism our bodies energy declines and the signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism presents itself.

Thyroid diagnosis:  Conventional approach and holistic approach

The conventional approach to diagnosing a thyroid disorder primarily revolves around the measurement of thyroid blood test, particularly the TSH test.  If the TSH is elevated , it is a sign that the pituitary gland is sensing a low thyroid hormone level in the body, and the TSH is being secreted in order to stimulate the thyroid gland to produce more thyroid hormone.

If the TSH normal, many physicians believe that automatically rules out a hypothyroid condition.

TSH Ranges

TSH Normal Range: 0.5-4.5mU/l

TSH Hypothyroid: the blood test result is greater than 4.5mU/l

Research has shown that relying solely on the TSH test will result in under-diagnosing many individuals who are suffering from hypothyroidism as much as 30% of the populatioln.

The Holistic Approach to Diagnosing Hypothyroidism

The holistic approach to diagnosing low thyroid function if very different from the standard conventional method of relying only on the blood test.

The holistic approach includes looking at the following componets.

• Thyroid Blood Test
• Medical History
• Basal body temperatures
• Physical exam

This information will hopefully help you to have a better understanding of low thyroid diagnosis.

As many as 13 million adults could have an undiagnosed hypothyroid condition.  If you have a chronic illness that does not respond well to medical therapy including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, chronic infections, chronic fatigue, depression and more. It could be your thyroid.

Every single muscle, organ and cell in the body depends on adequate thyroid hormone levels for optimal functioning.

Physicians are taught to rely primarily on the TSH (thyroid stimulation hormone) blood test, if the TSH blood test is normal then, you most likely will not be diagnosed with a thyroid problem.  But perhaps the blood tests did not tell the whole story in evaluating thyroid problems.

Symptoms of low thyroid (hypothyroidism) can produce a huge amount of symptoms:

brittle nails, cold hands and feet, cold intolerance, constipation, depression, difficulty swallowing, dry skin, elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, eyelid swellling, fatigue, hair loss, hoarseness, low blood pressure, inability to concentrate, infertility, irritability, menstrul irregularities, muscle cramps, muscle weakness, nervousness, poormemory, puffy eyes, slower heartbeat, throat pain and weight gain

Blood test for thyroid disorders should include:

• TSH  (normal range 0.5-4.5mU/l)
• T4    (normal 80-180ug/dl)
• T3    (normal 55-120ng/dl)

Most physicians rely solely on laboratory testing for diagnosing, and don’t take into account the patient’s signs and symptoms, family history and all other aspects of their health.

• Take your medication as prescribed, thyroid medication should be taken on an empty stomach
• Consider the addition of nutritional supplements
• Get the junk food out of your diet
• Don’t look to caffeine for energy
• Increase protein intake this helps with metabolism
• For hair loss Nioxin products work well

Menopause is a natural process in our lives.  But the symptoms that each of us experience can range from hot flashes, anxiety, panic, depression, night sweats, itchy crawly skin, and a ton more.

Here are some suggestion I have found really helpful in controlling these symptoms.

• No alcohol, just one drink at night can cause night sweats.  Alcohol is processed by your liver and that is where your hormones do there thing.  By drinking alcohol you add an extra burden to your liver making it harder for your liver to do its job.
• Eat a protein snack before bed, this helps balance blood sugar and reduce the chance of night sweets
• Sugar can also be a problem, diet in general is always the first place to start.  Just get rid of the obvious things like excess sugar and caffeine.  Be more aware of what you eat.
• Exercise, many women report this helps them more than anything
• Women’s Formula by Vita Logics works well and is formulated by Jann McBarron MD
• Remefemon is also another great product that gives good results

There are many causes of depression.  Thyroid disorders like hypothyroidism (low thyroid) and hyperthyroidism (high thyroid, graves disease), hormone changes like menopause and adrenal problems.  Also prolonged stress, nutritional deficiencies, and imbalances of brain chemicals like seratonin, dopamine, and epinephrine.

If you suffer from depression and are not getting good results from any medication you are taking here are a few guidelines to help you.

• Blood work to rule out any thyroid disorder
• B vitamin supplement
• Stress management
• Urine test for brain chemical levels
• Exercise of some sort is a must, walking, etc. force yourself get out and move.  Exercise releases the feel good chemicals and can really do wonders to help.

When we say chronic fatigue we are not talking about feeling tired on occasion.  This kind of fatigue stays with you day and night.  Even after a full nights sleep you wake up with that feeling of over whelming fatigue that nothing seems to make better.

You have probably tried all sorts of remedies but with no relief.  Most likely you are trying things like caffeine and other stimulates but in reality they only make you feel worse. Here are a few guidelines that might help you feel better.

• Eliminate sugars and caffeine (green tea should be ok)
• Don’t skip meals especially breakfast
• Keep a food diary certain foods may make you feel worse
• Consider nutritional supplements
• Check B12 levels and other blood test
• Make sure to get medical checkup to rule out other causes