Many of us experience fatigue, weight gain, pain, poor sleep, brain fog, depression/anxiety and many other symptoms. These seemingly unrelated events often have a common theme. Hormones control many of these events that occur in our bodies. Blood pressure, blood sugar, the reproductive system, stress, mood, sleep… These functions are all managed by different hormones produced in a variety of areas in our bodies. The major glands involved are the hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, adrenals and gonads. These glands located throughout the body perform a careful balancing act to manage most systems of the body.
I feel these systems are often overlooked or interpreted incorrectly. For example, many of my patients bring their blood work to my office from various healthcare providers, including internists, endocrinologists, cardiologists and even other holistic practitioners. Upon discussion, if I have suspicions, I might ask about the state of a patient’s thyroid. The most common response is, “Yeah, they checked it and said it was fine.” Upon examination, I often find that not only is it NOT fine (misinterpreted), but 90 percent or even higher of the time the blood work was not a sufficient analysis to determine anything—often not even a direct analysis of the organ in question.
The most common test factor of the thyroid is TSH, which is a hormone made in the pituitary gland. So, it’s not even the thyroid being checked. For those a bit luckier, a hormone of the thyroid called T4 is checked. In reality, T4 is what is considered the “inactive” thyroid hormone. The activated version is called T3. Guess where that is made? Actually, it is manufactured in the liver. Not only that, but it is common knowledge that greater than 60 percent of all thyroid problems in America are a disease called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune typically hypothyroid condition. If we pay attention, we notice the word “autoimmune,” which means the immune system is attacking certain thyroid-related compounds, slowing the conversion of T3 to T4.
For some reason, this disease is most often treated by adding more synthetic T4, the inactive hormone. Do you think this will fix the problem or make it worse? I like using examples to help us realize that often we are not paying attention to the causes of our problems, even in things that we know and understand. Typically, I find these thyroid problems do not exist in isolation, but also involve changes to the output of the adrenal and reproductive systems. This is due to the body’s never-ending attempt to find balance, or homeostasis. For most with issues like Hashimoto’s disease, I attempt to address the cause—a constellation of issues ranging from chronic systemic inflammation, hormone production imbalances, and liver function issues. These problems can be caused by a variety of issues, and each individual’s causes can be fundamentally different and require completely different treatments for the same named disease.
The question to ask is WHY? Why are these events taking place in the first place? That will reveal HOW to fix them. If you or someone you know struggles with issues that may be the result of hormone imbalance, please have an experienced and qualified holistic healthcare practitioner help you to find the CAUSE, not just treat the symptoms.
Source: Dr. David Pollack. Location: Pollack Wellness Institute (formerly Creating Wellness Center) is located at 66 Commack Rd., Commack. For more information, call 631-462-0801 or visit CreatingWellnessLI.com. See ads on pages 13 and 39.
