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Month: August 2013

What thyroid patients should know about Oxidative Stress

20130817_151332With a recent Italian study hypothesizing a significant correlation between T4-only levothyroxine use and lung cancer because of “oxidative stress” (possibly due to the serum peak of T4), or the same oxidative stress simply from the hypothyroidism itself, it spurs curiosity as to what oxidative stress is about and what we, as thyroid patients, can learn from this biological phenomena!

Oxidation–what the heck is that?

I have a shampoo holder that hangs from the shower nozzle, and to my dismay, it started to rust underneath the coating. (Note to self: don’t buy a hanging shampoo holder from a garage sale, even if it does look brand new).  And this rust is an example of “oxidation”, i.e. when the iron comes into contact with oxygen (also via moisture), an oxidized corrosion will form called “rust”. Other examples of oxidation are the greenish patina you see on copper, the fading of paint on your house, or the brown coating you’ll see on an exposed cut apple…all due to the substance coming in contact with oxygen.

In your body, oxidation is a constant and normal chemical reaction going on every hour, every day and occurring when your cells come into contact with oxygen. It’s a required process to supply your body and all its cells with energy. Oxidation helps your body to get rid of old cells in favor of new cells. Your immune system also uses oxidation to attack and kill off pathogens.

Biologically, oxygenation describes the process of any particular molecule (which is made up of connected atoms) coming into contact with oxygen (making it an “oxygenated molecule”), resulting in the loss of an electron–a subatomic particle with a negative electric charge that surrounds any of those atoms. This oxygenated-molecule-minus-an-electron will frantically try to connect with another molecule which does NOT have this electron loss, and this constant attempt of connection produces an unstable “free radical”. And free radicals can cause all sorts of havoc.

Fortunately, a healthy and balanced body has a built-in ability to keep these unstable free radicals in check with anti-oxidant defense mechanisms…or at the very least, slow the havoc of a free radical down. Those heroes include several anti-oxidant enzymes, also called free radical scavengers, which can neutralize all those frenzied free radicals. Our body will also use nutrients in what we eat to squelch those free radicals, such as Vitamin C and E. Our bodies have the ability to repair DNA and tissue damage from free radicals, as well as zap damaged cells to death!

When Oxidation become “Oxidative Stress”

On the negative side, sometimes your body can lose the ability to take care of all the free radicals caused by the constant oxidation. (Collectively, all these free radicals are called “reactive oxygen species” (ROS).) The body then becomes overwhelmed by the excess of oxygenated free radicals, causing all sorts of damage. And this is all termed “oxidative stress”. 

Alarmingly, oxidative stress can cause the loss of one of your key and internally-natural antioxidants: glutathione. Glutathione is a powerful antioxidant produced by your own cells, and it neutralizes those free radicals/reactive oxygen species. It also works expertly with antioxidants vitamin C and E. And as your glutathione levels fall, a cascade of toxic deterioration and damage can also begin, from cells to tissues to organs. Scientists theorize, and studies propose, that this is what leads to conditions like:

Oxidative stress may also be negatively affecting your methylation process, such as the MTHFR enzyme.

Dr Andrew Weil explains :

Although we need oxygen to live, high concentrations of it are actually corrosive and toxic. We obtain energy by burning fuel with oxygen – that is, by combining digested food with oxygen from the air we breathe. This is a controlled metabolic process that, unfortunately, also generates dangerous byproducts. These include free radicals – electronically unstable atoms or molecules capable of stripping electrons from any other molecules they meet in an effort to achieve stability. In their wake they create even more unstable molecules that then attack their neighbors in domino-like chain reactions.

Some Causes of oxidative stress

There are quite a few situations mentioned in articles and studies which can cause your body to be overly stressed from the results of oxidation and all the reactive oxygen species. They include, but are not limited to:

  • excess endurance exercising
  • excess weight lifting
  • lack of key antioxidant nutrients like Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, Magnesium and other minerals
  • excess radiation or sunlight
  • smoking (huge cause of oxidative stress)
  • excessive drinking or drug use
  • over-exposure to toxins in our air, water and foods like pesticides, chemicals, heavy metals and more
  • prescription medications
  • processed foods with all their artificial dyes, additives or flavorings
  • excess physical trauma
  • Graves disease aka hyperthyroidism
  • excess copper levels from the MTHFR defect

Your thyroid condition and Oxidative Stress

In addition to all the above, there are a vast amount of documentation about the strong relationship between hypothyroidism and Oxidative Stress. In just four examples of many:

  1. Oxidative stress and enzymatic antioxidant status in patients with hypothyroidism before and after treatment :  concludes that “increased ROS levels in hypothyroidism may result in a pro-oxidation environment, which in turn could result in decreased antioxidant PON1 activity, increased MDA (malondialdehyde) and NO (nitric acid) levels”. ROS stands for Reactive oxygen species, which are chemically reactive molecules containing oxygen
  2. Serum Lipids and Oxidative Stress in Hypothyroidism : found relationship between high Total Cholesterol, Triglycerides, LDL and MDA levels in hypothyroid patients with oxidative stress
  3. Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Status in Hypo- and Hyperthyroidism  “Despite some contradictory reports, the aforementioned results provide strong evidence that thyroid hormones induce oxidative stress in target tissues.”
  4. Oxidative stress status in hypothyroid patients.  “Hypothyroidism undeniably can be risk factor for in- creased oxidative stress; can eventually lead to many other complications. Antioxidant therapy and antioxidant diet should be advised along with thyroid hormone replacement therapy to diminish further complications.”

What we might conclude as informed thyroid patients

Plenty of research studies and articles underscore that lack of optimal thyroid hormones are strongly associated with your anti-oxidative status in a negative way, meaning the lack of adequate thyroid hormones means oxidative stress. And worldwide thyroid patient reports underscore the reality of a potential, hypothyroid-induced “oxidative stress profile” with their chronic inflammation and finding themselves more frequent illnesses, besides lowered levels of important nutrients (due to hypothyroid-induced low stomach acid) which can end up contributing to oxidative stress. In other words, all too many patients have reported continued hypothyroidism while being on T4-only, or they reporting seeing symptoms of hypothyroidism creep up the longer they stay on T4-only. Continued hypothyroidism can occur if you are undertreated even on Natural Desiccated Thyroid or T3-only thanks to being held hostage to the TSH lab test (or issues with untreated low cortisol).

Conversely, informed thyroid patients could surmise that proper treatment of their hypothyroid state, in addition to their acquire low iron, low nutrient, low cortisol state, could strongly improve their anti-oxidative status in a positive way. And reported patient experience in the use of Natural Desiccated Thyroid may be underscoring this, as well. Namely, patients who switch from T4 to NDT report far better health outcomes i.e. less sicknesses, better well-being, lowered inflammation.

In the meantime, the same four Italian researchers who did the study on T4-only, lung cancer and oxidative stress may eventually provide us with more tips to counter this issue.

Ten suggested strategies for informed thyroid patients to consider to counter oxidative stress

  1. Be on a thyroid treatment which gives the best results, and thus, may play a role in lowering your oxidative stress, which reported patient experience reveals to be natural desiccated thyroid (or adding T3 to your T4 treatment, or even being on T3-only).
  2. Get a wide variety of antioxidants in foods.
  3. Optimize and balance your blood sugar levels
  4. Identify and address your food intolerances
  5. Optimize your gut health
  6. Treat your low cortisol
  7. Dr. Kharrazian recommends the following nutrients: N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA), L-Glutamine, Selenium, Cordyceps, Gotu kola and Milk thistle. (Learn about each before using)
  8. Consider meditation and/or Yoga or any other stress-busting activities
  9. Find ways to laugh…and laugh….and laugh!
  10. Get plenty of sleep.

Discuss all the above with your doctor so he or she can be included in your team approach to your health and well-being. Let’s STOP THE THYROID AND OXIDATIVE STRESS MADNESS! 🙂

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** Want to chat with other patients concerning this oxidative stress issue? See a list of good thyroid patients groups.

** Need a good doctor to be in partnership with you? Here are strategies to help you.

** Like to learn in book form about better thyroid treatment? Order the Bible of better thyroid treatment as learned by patients (and the publishing company, with each order of the STTM book, is giving away a FREE 4-page handout on Herbs which help thyroid patients, for a limited time!)

** Check out this neat video by Tyler DeWitt explaining the difference between an atom and a molecule.

** For a very technical description of free radicals, check out the “Radical” Wikipedia article.

** See a list of diseases and conditions caused by oxidative stress on the Oxidative Stress Resource website. . http://www.oxidativestressresource.org/

 

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More BAD news if you are on T4-only like Synthroid??: It might cause Lung Cancer, says a study!

Lungs

After worldwide patient experience has revealed that T4-only treatment results in a slew of continuing hypothyroid symptoms, now we have a study which implies that T4-only treatment could be raising your risk of LUNG CANCER.

This complete study came out just last Thursday, August 8, 2013, in the Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology journal and it’s certainly not good news, if true, on top of what thyroid patients already know has been a failure in so many ways.

The Italian authors said the correlation between lung cancer and T4-only treatment was “significant“!

In other words, says the study, as hypothyroid patients raise their T4-only levothyroxine medication to chase continuing symptoms of hypothyroidism, it can lead to medication-induced hyperthyroid state, which in turns leads to an overproduction of oxidative stress.  The latter oxidative stress is a known cause of cancer and other chronic diseases. But with T4-use, it’s specifically problematic for lung cancer, implies the study.

Oxidative stress can be defined as a that which results in “significant decrease in the effectiveness of your iinherent antioxidant defenses, such as glutathione” (Wikipedia). And there are two main consequences:  your body doesn’t detoxify itself well, nor does it repair any damage well because of free radicals.

The study states:

The prevalence of breast, colorectal, gastric and lung cancer in 18 Italian Regions during 2010 was correlated with the sales of LT4 in 2009. The cancer prevalence was analyzed in women aged 30—84. This age range corresponds to more than 80% of the consumers of the drug and to about 99% of all malignant cancers. The correlation between sales of LT4 and cancers was determined with the technique of Density Ellipses. The age and smoking contribution for lung cancer was determined with the Sequential test.

It also adds:

Lung cancer was the only tumor found directly correlated with LT4 supplementation.

It’s particularly interesting to note that simply being hypothyroid results in increased oxidative stress, but the use of T4-only medications creates the same problem via a different route, explains the study. “LT4 can alter the oxidative balance in lungs and behave as a negative factor because of oxidative stress….” 

The authors conclude that “hypothyroidism might also be involved in the development of lung cancer”, but the study does send an alarming message about the correlation between T4 use and lung cancer, as well.

The website Green Med Info, which promotes natural and integrative modalities, goes further into the discussion about the problematic nature of treating hypothyroidism with T4-only, stating

One of the main drawbacks of administering T4 in isolation is the possibility that it will not convert adequately to T3, and will therefore ‘back up’ causing excessive T4 activity, i.e. hyperthyroidism. There is also the very real possibility that T4 will not only not properly interact with thyroxine cellular receptors, but will block out what remaining natural levothyroxine the thyroid is still producing (and whose conformational state is far more health-promoting), essentially acting as an endocrine disrupter at the very moment that it is acting as intended as a ‘TSH suppressor.’ This T4 blocking/endocrine-disrupting property of the synthetic form would also activate a negative feedback loop within the endocrine system, further suppressing remaining thyroid function, and resulting in the atrophy of the compromised thyroid, a iatrogenic ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ if you will.

And they conclude: “There is also compelling research indicating that desiccated thyroid extract (Armour thyroid) results in superior clinical outcomes versus the synthetic hormone, especially as concerns improved body weight.” And of course, patients who have switched to natural desiccated thyroid (NDT) have reported FAR better results repeatedly! Brands are not limited to Armour. Other brands which patients like include Erfa, Acella (NP Thyroid), Naturethroid, Westhroid-P and more.

Message to those still using T4-only

Millions of hypothyroid patients have reported millions of prices in their own degree and kind thanks to their use of T4-only medications. Now we have a study that implies your risk of getting lung cancer is increased. What’s next?? It’s not a pretty picture, if the correlation turns out be accurate for some. Time to take a strong and open-minded look at what patients have learned.

ADDENDUM FROM JANIE: Please note that this study doesn’t say that every single T4 user is going to get lung cancer. My mother was on Synthroid her entire life, and though she had many miserable symptoms from it being a poor treatment for her, she never got lung cancer. It just seems to say that the researchers noted increased oxidative stress with T4 use, and they saw a correlation between that and lung cancer in some. Read the entire study information here and decide for yourself. 

 

 

 

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Followup to recent Wall Street Journal article–my video

Screen Shot 2013-08-07 at 6.56.40 PMIn yesterday’s blog post, I wrote about an article that appeared on the Wall Street Journal Online website on Monday, August 5th, 2013. I gave extra information that would have made this article far more timely and important.

And the more I thought about this,  it simply bothered me to no end. Sure, we’ve heard a lot this bunk before, but it’s time for doctors to STOP THIS THYROID TREATMENT MADNESS in their clueless view of their T4-only treatment patients as well as the inane use of the TSH lab test, which is LOUSY and has harmed patients since its inception in the early 1970’s!!

VIDEO REBUTTAL TO CERTAIN INFORMATION STATED OR INTERVIEW QUOTES in recent Wall Street Journal article: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugQvmJ18b8c Share this where you think it will be influential.

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Wall Street Journal’s recent thyroid article: 13 ways it could have been SO MUCH better!

Screen Shot 2013-08-06 at 1.05.29 PM(This post has been updated to the present day and time! Enjoy!)

As usual, informed thyroid patients can only roll their eyes about the latest example of a watered-down, thyroid-themed article in the media. This time, it’s from Wall Street Journal Online and appeared Monday, August 5th, 2013.

Now on the positive side, the title looks good: New Call for More Thyroid Options. 

But let’s set it straight: this is NOT new! Informed thyroid patients have been clamoring about better treatment for more than a decade!!

I started the Yahoo Natural Thyroid Hormones group in 2002 as a way to begin the important discussion about the efficacy of Natural Desiccated Thyroid as a treatment for hypothyroidism over T4-only. The Stop the Thyroid Madness (STTM) site first went up in December 2005–a compilation of worldwide patient experiences which included lives being changed thanks to natural desiccated thyroid (NDT). The STTM book by the same name first appeared in 2008, and the revision in 2011. The STTM II book came out in late 2014. Today, there are numerous thyroid groups all over Facebook which have been extolling the virtues of better treatment.

Let’s break the article down and go into further detail, correction or clarification–all which might have made this a MUCH more informative and accurate article:

1) Grass roots patient-activist organizations….and the doctor-founded National Academy of Hypothyroidism, say that the current screening test for hypothyroidism leaves out some symptomatic patients and that the main medication used to treat patients, doesn’t always alleviate many symptoms.

True! And let’s be more specific about that so-called “screening test”: it’s the inane use of the TSH lab test which has been a monstrous screening failure! The TSH is a pituitary hormone, NOT a thyroid hormone! And it can consistently look “normal” for years (according to the parameter of an erroneous man-made “normal” range), yet we have raging hypothyroid symptoms…all the while the patient has to hear his or her doctor state they need to “exercise more and eat less”. The “main medication” is the all-too-often lousy T4-only medication like Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothyroxine, Eltoxin, etc. Yet, a healthy thyroid makes FIVE hormones, not just one.

2) They are calling for doctors to be open to other therapies, including a combination of synthetic hormones and the use of natural, animal-based ones.

True. But though adding synthetic T3 to synthetic T4 is a huge step in a much better direction and can be applauded (and so can being on T3-only), a multitude of worldwide patient experience has found that Natural Desiccated Thyroid has given these patients even better results (in the presence of good iron and cortisol levels). Doctors need to listen to that!

3) Hashimoto’s Disease: A Primer (box on the left side of the article) 

What a perfect way to lower the quality of an article. As usual, it contains the dark ages information about the use of the TSH, and mentions the “common” treatment of T4-only. They might as well have inserted a primal on blood-letting.

4) [In reference to Dr. Ridha Arem’s correct comment that “There are so many unhappy thyroid patients,”] :  Many of his mainstream medical counterparts disagree. “The vast majority of people are fine on the standard therapy,” says Jeffrey Garber, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical Center and chair of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Thyroid Scientific Committee. Still, he says, “there’s a whole group out there who just thinks we’re clueless. 

Yup, millions of informed thyroid patients worldwide would definitely put you in that clueless category, Dr. Garber.

5) The wide range of symptoms, so similar to those of many other diseases, can make diagnosis tough. 

Totally untrue, say thyroid patients! Thyroid disease has a common cluster of symptoms in patients, which can include one or more of depression, fatigue, the need to nap, rising cholesterol, rising blood pressure, achiness, hair loss, weight gain, inability to lose weight, dry skin, dry hair, achiness, a low mid-afternoon temperature (below 98.6F/37C) and so many more symptoms.

Additionally, we have noted that if our free T3 is mid-range or lower, or our Free T4 is low, along with the above symptoms, it’s a sure sign that we are hypothyroid. Finally, family history underscores it for others, as can an ultrasound. It’s not that difficult when you understand the clinical presentation of hypothyroidism over an ink spot on a piece of paper!

6) Newborns and pregnant woman are routinely tested. Experts recommend screening all women over the age of 35 every five years. 

And how does that help when the testing/screening is with the inadequate TSH lab test, which we, as patients, already know leaves millions of us undiagnosed for years.

7) For treatment, guidelines generally call for the prescription of levothyroxine, a synthetic version of a hormone called thyroxine, or T4, which is produced by the thyroid. The gland also produces one other hormone, Triiodothyronine, or T3. 

A healthy thyroid gland produces FIVE known thyroid hormones: T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin. So what’s the motive to prescribe only a storage thyroid hormone???

8) Most doctors, says Dr. Arem, generally prescribe T4-only medications. But such medications may leave some patients with lingering symptoms such as fatigue and depression and, in some cases, low T3 levels. 

He’s right! But there’s more to the story. Even those T4-only treated patients who see a removal of those lingering symptoms still end up seeing them crop up the longer they stay on T4! T4-only treatment is NOT a pretty picture.

9) Some patients go to alternative health professionals to get prescriptions for drugs such as desiccated thyroid extract (DTE) prepared from animal thyroid glands, which include a combination of T4 and T3.  

Thyroid patients are NOT just getting their natural desiccated thyroid (NDT is the common term, not DTE) from alternative health professionals. They are also getting it from open-minded and progressive regular doctors who LISTEN to their patients experiences!

10) The danger here, Dr. Arem says, is such patients could end up with an excessive amount of T3, resulting in symptoms of overactive thyroids, such as anxiety and a fast or irregular heart rate. He advocates a combination approach with amounts tailored to the individual.  

With all due respect to Dr. Arem, who is light years ahead of his colleagues in many areas, an excessive amount of T3 is not because of the use of NDT. It’s because NDT will reveal the problems of inadequate iron or inadequate cortisol–either of which can cause T3 to pool high in the blood and not make it to the cells. When patients correct those, they eventually soar on NDT. A newer page on STTM explains why NDT appears to cause problems.

11) Most studies looking at combination approaches show conflicting results. 

This is because those doing the studies made several key mistakes!! a) they dosed by the TSH, which leaves patients underdosed, b) they had no clue about the problem of inadequate levels of iron or cortisol, either which will leave a patient hypothyroid! Learn from patients!

12) The study’s authors said in a news release that it showed DTE may be a good alternative therapy for a limited number of patients. Harvard’s Dr. Garber says there may be certain subsets who are genetically programmed to respond to such combination therapies. 

That’s like saying a “limited number” of human beings and only those “who are genetically programmed” will do well with a healthy thyroid (NDT gives the exact same hormones as a healthy thyroid!! T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin).

13) Dr. Garber, like many endocrinologists, uses T4 medications with the vast majority of his patients. Occasionally he’ll also use conservative doses of a synthetic T3 drug, but he virtually never prescribes the animal-derived form, he says, because of complications that could arise for women trying to get pregnant or in early pregnancy, as well as individuals with heart disease.  

And this is why most thyroid patients, when they report about their doctor experiences, find Endocrinologists to be the worst doctor they ever went to, using descriptive words such as arrogant, close-minded, blind. And by the way, even some heart surgeons know that T3 SUPPORTS healthy heart function, not hurts it! See the Medical Research page on STTM which supports what we already know by our experiences!

See the actual Wall Street Journal article here.

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* Did you know that the original and revised Stop the Thyroid Madness book is in four languages?? English, Spanish, German and Swedish. Wooo hoooo!!  And now, there’s a STTM II book with each chapter written by medical practitioners! 

* The STTM Facebook page is very active and informative about successful thyroid patient treatment! Come join us! Discussion groups listed on the Talk to Others page.

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