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. Rudolf Hoermann and colleagues Midgley, Larisch, and Dietrich explains the complex interrelationships between TSH, T4 … Continue reading Relational stability among thyroid hormones and TSH, part 1

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 natural TSH-FT3-FT4 hormone relationships. Yes, thyroid disease and therapy DO alter and skew these functional … Continue reading The TSH-T3 disjoint in thyroid therapy

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 for TSH, Total T4 and Total T3 that is far less the width of the … Continue reading Individual thyroid ranges are far narrower than lab ranges

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 while dosing T3 thyroid medication. What Utiger discovered in the 1970s and 1980s about the … Continue reading A Dialogue with Utiger: T3-based thyroid therapy over-suppresses TSH

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. Finally, normal TSH becomes the sole JUDGE of therapy success. This is faulty reasoning. There … Continue reading Overreliance on TSH is a thyroid therapy policy that fails to detect its own failure