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Autoimmune Hypothyroidism: Hashimoto’s
written by Dr. Kevin Conners
There are six main reasons why a person suffers with low thyroid; one that is most common. Depending on what research one reads 70-95% of hypothyroid in the United States is Hashimoto’s Autoimmune Hypothyroid. Most are undiagnosed and improperly treated. The most common test is an antibody test. Hashimoto’s is a disease where one’s immune system is inadvertently attacking the thyroid gland, destroying the tissue and decreasing hormone output.
Typically, a person has symptoms that may instigate an investigation and blood work. The TSH is found to be high and the T3 and T4 (hormones produced by the thyroid) are low and the patient is given a diagnosis of hypothyroid and placed on a synthetic substitute. If you have a doctor who questions a bit deeper, an antibody test is ordered and if positive, Hashimoto’s is the cause.
But remember from lesson one – there exists two main parts of the immune response – a Th1 and Th2 (don’t confuse these letters with thyroid hormones). The Th1 response is the immediate, killer cell, police force portion of the immune system and has the mission to kill all living foreign invaders like virus and bacteria. The Th2 response kicks in if the Th1 ‘killers’ couldn’t do the job for whatever reason, and makes antibodies to ‘tag’ the bacteria so the Th1 ‘killers’ can find them and destroy them. Remember, the immune system does only one thing – it KILLS things!
When a person’s immune system ‘turns on’ to something that is lodged in the tissues (like the thyroid gland) that cannot be killed (like heavy metal toxicity), we have a problem! This is what is called an autoimmune response – the immune system is firing against an antigen that cannot or will not die. When this happens, an enormous amount of collateral damage takes place – i.e. tissue destruction.
In summary for lesson two: The most common cause of hypothyroid is Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune attack against the thyroid. Substituting a hormone like Synthroid does nothing for the cause, which is a hyper-immune attack on the gland. In later lessons we will discover the ONLY way to find any relief in treating the disease and in the next lesson we’ll learn why most people who have gone as far as getting an antibody test have/will show a false negative!
Read all about this and similar information on Dr. Conners website and even download a FREE COPY of his book at www.upperroomwellness.com.
Read Part 1 of Dr. Conners’ series here.
Bio: Doctor of Chiropractic, Northwestern Health Sciences University; Fellowship in Health Research Outcomes, National Institutes of Health; currently studying for Diplomate Status in Neurology, Carrick Institute; Fellowship in Anti-Aging, Regenerative and Functional Medicine; Fellowship in Integrative Cancer Therapy; and Master Degree through South Florida School of Medicine; over 100 hours postgraduate study in Autism Spectrum Disorders; practicing Applied Kinesiologist; Full bio here
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Tags: antibody test, Autoimmune hypothyroidism, autoimmune response, cause of hypothyroidism, Dr. Kevin Conners, functional medicine, Hashimotos, hypothyroid, immune system, inflammatory response, Th1, Th2, Upper Room Wellness
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5 Responses to “Autoimmune Hypothyroidism: Hashimoto’s”
Leave a Reply to Ana
Comments are moderated in an effort to control spam. If you have a previously approved Comment, this one should go right through. Thanks for your patience!
This is my case, TSH high, T3 and T4 low, antibody test positive. I’ve been taking 75 mcg of levothyroxine daily for a year and half now, started with 25 mcg. While the blood test show better results every time I have a check-up, my symptoms are the same and the only reply I get from the doctor is: That’s to be expected, you have a thyroid condition.
ANA:
You definitely have Hashimoto’s given the positive antibody test. You are being treated as if you have primary hypothyroidism with supplementation of synthetic thyroid hormone and no consideration for treating the cause of the autoimmune disease. This is so common and it makes me wonder why doctors run antibody tests if they don’t know how to treat the condition they are attempting to locate. Follow my series and I’ll walk you through the steps of proper care. Hang in there, you’ll do just fine!
Dr C
DRC; Thank you so much for writing this series, I’m learning so much about it. I am EXTREMELY passionate about autoimmune disease. I wonder, constantly, to the point of obsession, why most endocrinologists don’t treat the autoimmune disease.
In my opinion, and please correct me if I’m wrong, treating thyroid is simply treating the symptom of a disease, but not the actual disease.
Why aren’t more doctors treating the autoimmune disease, in your opinion?
Thank you, thank you, thank you
Katie
The eternal question:
Why aren’t more doctors doing this? Why, if this is true, didn’t/wouldn’t my doctor/endocrinologist tell me?
Answer: I have NO idea! The literature is out there in peer-reviewed journals. The good news is that I train with several thousand MD’s who ARE learning to dig, take time, listen to their patients, really care and really desire to help their patients.
The bad news is that most are chained to old beliefs, dogmatic positions, paralyzing pride, and insurance reimbursement (not to mention the death-grip of ‘big pharma’).
You have to be your own advocate!
Dr. C
I would like to know my thyroids were burnt long time ago with the radiotherapy or something of that kind, now I have hypothyroidism problem, I am everything you mentioned, I do not have insurance to take me out of state to get such treatment mentioned here. What advise can you give me! Sarah