Too many diagrams focus on the “HPT axis,” in which the Hypothalamus, the Pituitary, and Thyroid gland are the biggest icons. Take for example this diagram from Ortiga-Carvalho’s chapter in a physiology textbook. The huge, super-ballsy pituitary. Seriously? In diagrams… Read More ›
TSH hormone
7 ways to raise TSH without reducing thyroid dose
You’ve just come to your doctor for your annual check-up. Either you feel fine and you want to get a renewal of your current thyroid prescription, or you feel rather hypothyroid and you’re hoping to get an increased dose. But… Read More ›
Relational Stability, Part 2: Normality of TSH and thyroid hormones
Does the statistically-defined “normal” TSH reference range for the healthy population describe the TSH range for a healthy individual? Does having a TSH within the normal laboratory range always mean you, as an individual are biologically euthyroid? Does falling outside… Read More ›
Relational stability among thyroid hormones and TSH, part 1
In a series of posts, I’m sharing my plainer-English paraphrase of a very important article in thyroid science. My hope is that the public, doctors, and educated thyroid patients can better understand and appreciate its insights. This article by Dr…. Read More ›
The TSH-T3 disjoint in thyroid therapy
There’s a deep lie behind today’s TSH-based definition of “euthyroid” status and today’s policies of TSH normalization in therapy. The lie is that the loss of the thyroid and the initiation of thyroid hormone dosing has NOT altered and skewed… Read More ›
Individual thyroid ranges are far narrower than lab ranges
We’ve known since at least 2002 that being within “normal range” is never good enough when it comes to thyroid hormone blood tests. An important set of four articles has taught us that each human being has an optimal range… Read More ›
A Dialogue with Utiger: T3-based thyroid therapy over-suppresses TSH
Robert Utiger, M.D. (1931-2008) is well known in endocrinology as the father of the TSH test. Despite his trust in the TSH test, in his publications he acknowledged that TSH behaved very unnaturally in response to T3 levels in blood… Read More ›
Overreliance on TSH is a thyroid therapy policy that fails to detect its own failure
In standard T4 thyroid therapy, TSH normalization is so easy to achieve that it is almost impossible to fail. First, TSH out of range is the judge of an initial DIAGNOSIS. Next, normal TSH becomes the sole TARGET of therapy…. Read More ›