Who is really sleeping a lot, and yet sleeping poorly? Sure, the hypothyroid patient. But someone else is sleeping too. Our Canadian medical system and the majority of our doctors who dismiss treated patients’ symptoms and thyroid-related disorders whenever TSH is normal. Sleeping at the wheel. Where are we headed? Why are you nickel and diming away access to Free T3 and Free T4 tests? What about public health and human welfare? What about our economic productivity? What of the higher costs of treating health problems that go hand in hand with suboptimal Free T3? We are onto you. You …
Month: March 2019
Low T3 thyroid hormone, insomnia, and sleep apnea
Have you struggled with sleep disorders, whether insomina or sleep apnea? Apparently it’s associated with hypothyroidism. Even if it’s true that people with untreated hypo sleep a LOT. My mother has agonized over her chronic insomnia. She had been on low dose Synthroid for decades before she was diagnosed with a serious case of sleep apnea in her 80s. Since finding out her FT3 was chronically below range on Synthroid, switching to desiccated thyroid and being on CPAP therapy have been helping. A doctor I know who treats hypothyroidism has said this about insomnia: “Although hypothyroid patients are thought of …
Diabetes, diabetes, diabetes. Let’s talk about hypothyroid therapy.
Why is diabetes getting all the attention in health care media, and hypothyroidism hardly any? Let’s brainstorm this together. Let’s see possible reasons why. Let’s talk more publicly about what Canadians can do about the health inequity and the truly “epidemic” lack of attention and concern for hypothyroidism. 1. PHARMACEUTICAL ATTENTION Perhaps one reason is the mile-long list of medications for Diabetes. Meanwhile pharma thinks hypothyroidism is entirely fixed by one T4 pill a day. Medications for Hypothyroidism Here is a list of thyroid medications and combinations listed in historical order. They are all basically various ratios of T4 and …
Canadian government responds to Thyroid Petition e-1819
On March 19, 2019, The Government of Canada responded to thyroid patients petition “Petition E-1819 (HYPOTHYROIDISM)“, The petition gained 5644 e-signatures over the 3 months it was permitted to run, August 27 to December 25, 2018. It was presented by MP Diane Finley in the House of Commons March 19, 2019. TEXT OF THE PETITION PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA Whereas: The government needs to protect equitable access, supply and a fair marketplace for the full range of thyroid hormone pharmaceuticals, not only the synthetic T4 and T3 used since the 1950s, but also animal-derived hormone extract in medical …
Low-normal FT3 increases Alzheimer’s Disease risk
SOURCE Quinlan, P., Horvath, A., Wallin, A., & Svensson, J. (2019). Low serum concentration of free triiodothyronine (FT3) is associated with increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 99, 112–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.09.002 JAN 2019: Study reports increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease with low-normal Free T3 thyroid hormone. “Patients in the lowest FT3 quartile had a more than twofold increased risk of progressing to AD compared to those in the highest quartile (HR=2.63; 95% CI=1.06–6.47).” For every 1 pmol/L rise in FT3, Alzheimer’s progression risk decreased by approximately half (HR=0.54; 95% CI=0.32–0.92), even after correcting for age and gender. Quinlan et al reported …