T4 hormone – Thyroid Patients Canada

Ingbar and Braverman’s historic study of LT4 monotherapy

December 21st, 2020thyroidpatientsca9 Comments

As part of my post on “The thyroid gland is a T3 shield,” I reviewed a research article by Ingbar and team from 1982. Wow. What a treasure. The title of this article is “Elevated serum thyroxine concentration in patients receiving ‘replacement’ doses of levothyroxine.” Just look at that title. They began their title with the shocking word “elevated,” not the word “euthyroid,” “normalized” or “normalizing.” They dared to put the word “replacement” in quotation marks in the title, admitting a healthy doubt that a living gland that flexibly secretes two hormones can be fully replaced by static doses of …

Cancer scientists point finger at T4 & RT3 hormones

February 5th, 2020thyroidpatientsca7 Comments

For many decades, scientists have been studying the effect of thyroid hormones in promoting cancer proliferation. Confusion and contradictions often arise in “cancer & thyroid” research reviews because the relationship between cancer and thyroid hormones is very complex. For example, a recent review of science since the 1940s attempted to reclassify research findings under poorly defined generalizations of “hypothyroidism,” “euthyroidism” or “hyperthyroidism” and variable “high T3” or “low T4” conditions (Krashin et al, 2019). Such reviews can muddy the science more than clarify it. Fortunately, Aleck Hercbergs and Paul J. Davis and colleagues have been at the forefront of research …

The basics of thyroid hormone action, transport and conversion

November 12th, 2019thyroidpatientsca2 Comments

This comprehensive educational post collects the basics of thyroid hormone, transport and conversion. T3 action on nuclear receptors Every organ and tissue in your body must maintain a healthy level of T3 hormone activity to function properly. Bloodstream T3 supply and local T3 action powerfully influences how every organ operates, from our liver to our pancreas, kidney, and heart; and it influences every tissue, from our tendons to our muscles, bones, blood cells, and skin. This is what makes symptoms of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism so systemic and so difficult to interpret. Beyond the basic and common effects of thyroid hormone …

The impact of thyroid hormone dysfunction on ischemic heart disease, and how T3 therapy may help

June 25th, 2019thyroidpatientsca5 Comments

Finally! In the past, the overemphasis on hyperthyroidism and thyrotoxicosis and heart diseases has made many doctors think that only excess T3 and T4 is bad for the heart. We finally have an article that focuses on the real cause-effect relationships on the opposite end of the thyroid dysfunction spectrum: HYPOthyroidism. This May 2019 article co-authored by three women and two men from Portugal emphasizes the research on hypothyroidism, especially T3 deficiency, and its adverse effects on ischemic heart disease. In the past, I’ve written a prior campaign blog article about thyroid hormones and the cardiovascular system, but none of …

2018 study on T4 and T3 in breast cancer

August 18th, 2018thyroidpatientsca0 Comments

Published August 2018, a new study of T4 and T3 hormones and obesity in relation to breast cancer risk found that higher levels of T4 hormone conferred greater risk, while higher T3 levels had a protective effect. The article Ortega-Olvera, C., Ulloa-Aguirre, A., Ángeles-Llerenas, A., Mainero-Ratchelous, F. E., González-Acevedo, C. E., Hernández-Blanco, M. de L., … Torres-Mejía, G. (2018). Thyroid hormones and breast cancer association according to menopausal status and body mass index. Breast Cancer Research : BCR, 20. Available online at PubMed Central https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6085630/ Why it matters for thyroid patients too! The standard T4 (Levothyroxine / Synthroid) therapy produces T4 levels that …