Renew the paradigm. Optimize our therapy.
In a series of posts, I'm going to use my own science fiction analogy of an imaginary "crippling foot disease" to explore the logic of thyroid disease diagnosis, thyroid hormone testing, and the three basic thyroid therapy types. Let's imagine another world in which A) thyroid disease was like a permanently crippling foot disease, B) …
Continue reading What if TSH levels were like shoe sizes, thyroid meds like mobility aids
A 2017 article reported research on 11,806 healthy controls and 3,934 thyroidless people treated with L-T4 monotherapy in Sicily, and then did a more in-depth "retrospective longitudinal" study on 119 of the thyroid patients compared to 156 matched controls. They discovered that the thyroid-disabled people lost a "significant" amount of Free T4 and Free T3 …
Continue reading In Winter, everyone gains T3 except thyroidless patients on T4
This article is for people interested in getting an overview of the influence of thyroid hormones on bone health at the molecular level. It outlines the way bone transports, metabolizes, and uses thyroid hormones T3 and T4. It also raises theoretical implications for people with low T3 during TSH-suppressive T4 monotherapy. Here I draw mainly …
Continue reading The science of thyroid hormone and bone metabolism
Recently I came across the information about the Free T3 lab test assay kit recall by Abbott Laboratories announced in late 2018. The recall was initiated in October 2018 and the FDA record was published in February 2019. The reason they list is the potential for a mistakenly lower Free T3 test result. "Samples tested …
Continue reading The Abbott Free T3 test kit recall of 2018-2019
Many research studies have shown a strong association between low TSH and low bone mineral density or osteoporosis. As a result, many guidelines strongly caution against the risk associated with low TSH. Some doctors and thyroid patients have jumped to the conclusion that a low TSH “causes” osteoporosis. Some even believe a low TSH must …
Continue reading As of 2019, still no proof that low TSH causes harm to bones
We should all know that thyrotoxicosis in bone, caused by too much T3 binding to receptors in cells, leads to osteoporosis. (Bassett et al, 2007; Gogakos et al, 2010) Hypothyroidism in bone, characterized by low T3 in bone, is not good for bone, either. (Bassett et al, 2008) Hypothyroidism results in a different bone disorder …
Continue reading Overlooked: Hypothyroidism causes osteosclerosis
This post continues my series of paraphrases of Jonklaas et al's 2014 guidelines that I left unfinished weeks ago. Here I provide paraphrases and quotations of what they set forth for the "ethics" of research in thyroid therapy in Section 18, and what they recommend as topics for future research in thyroid therapy. I provide …
