Studio 5 Health Watch: Low Thyroid

Studio 5 Health Watch: Low Thyroid

In recent years, we’ve heard more and more about thyroid disease…a condition that affects energy, weight and mood. But one local doctor says not everyone is being diagnosed correctly.

Dr. Joshua Redd, D. C. with Red River Functional Endocrinology Clinic breaks down the treatment options for low thyroid.


Low Thyroid Symptoms:

· Fatigue

· Increase in weight gain

· Morning headaches that wear off as the day progresses

· Depression

· Constipation

· Overly sensitive to cold weather

· Poor circulation and numbness in hands and feet

· Require excessive amount of sleep to function properly

· Chronic digestive problems

· Itchy, dry skin

· Wounds heal slowly

· Poor immune function

Low Thyroid Signs:

· Dry or brittle hair

· Hair falls out easily

· Dry skin

· Swelling

· Loss of outside portion of eyebrows

Why am I still suffering from some of the symptoms above?

When someone is suffering from the signs or symptoms listed above the Doctor will usually run a TSH and that’s it. If the TSH comes back increased, then their treatment is limited to a hormone replacement. The problem with that is, the thyroid is usually never the main problem that is causing the high TSH, it’s usually an endocrine imbalance going on somewhere else in the body that is the main driving force. That is why these patients continue to decline or feel no improvement with that type of management, because nothing is being done to treat the actual cause of their disease!!! I have made a list of some of the many things that can cause an increased TSH in your body.

1. Anterior Pituitary Hypo-function

2. Increased thyroid binding proteins

3. Over-conversion of T3 leading to resistance

4. Under-conversion of T4 to T3

5. Nutrient Deficiency

6. Hashimoto’s Disease – the number one cause of low thyroid!

Here is a list of the other markers that are important to run in order to properly diagnose your thyroid.

1. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH)

2. Total T4 (TT4)

3. Free T4 (FT4)

4. Free Thyroxine Index (FTI)

5. Resin T3 uptake (T3U)

6. Free T3 (FT3)

7. Reverse T3 (rT3)

8. TPO and Thyroglobulin Antibodies

The thyroid is a very complex organ and has many different metabolic functions. It requires a 3 step process for diagnosing and managing a patient, which I have listed below:

1. You must know what tests to run.

2. You must know how to analyze those tests.

3. You must know how to build a treatment plan for each individual to fit their specific needs.

If you only know how to do 2 of the 3, the patient is going to continue with their troubles. Remember, everyone is uniquely different from one another and could have a totally different problem. It is very important to make each treatment plan very personalized to address each individual’s specific needs.

Hashimoto’s Disease

The number one cause of low thyroid is an autoimmune disease. It is an autoimmune disease that attacks the thyroid, which if not treated properly, can lead to other serious autoimmune diseases. Don’t you think this information could change the course of your care a little?!!!!!!!! To properly manage these patients you must do detailed medical testing to figure out how to dampen their immune system… since it’s not even a thyroid problem, it’s an autoimmune problem! This is also why patients may have a normal TSH but still feel terrible!!! Their immune response is still raging throughout their entire body.

We do detailed cutting edge medical testing and analysis, far beyond just seeing if you have a high TSH. Through this testing we can actually find out what endocrine imbalances are causing the high TSH and then we are able to restore those imbalances. That is why we are seeing amazing results in our office. We are working at treating the cause of the disease rather than only treating the symptoms.



To schedule a free consultation, call: (801) 446-2822 or go to: www.getlowthyroidhelp

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