The example I’m analyzing in this post is a video titled “Problems and Causes of Thyroid Diseases – Part 1” by Aliaksandr Haretski. (10) In the process of responding, I cover five issues in five separate blog posts: The most misleading types of thyroid naivety and quackery out there (this post) How to define, detect and minimize naivety and quackery How to distinguish between “temporary or mild” and “permanent and severe” forms of hypothyroidism The belief that thyroid hormone pharmaceuticals can harm the body The belief that some thyroid hormone pharmaceuticals are better or worse than others. INTRODUCTION According to …
Category: Thyroid therapy
Part 5: All thyroid meds are bioidentical, but individual response varies widely
This post concludes my response to a misleading video (10). THYROID HORMONE PHARMACEUTICALS A suspicion many people have is that thyroid hormone pharmaceuticals are very different from the thyroid hormones our bodies produce. Let’s look into the claim that they are “bioidentical” in structure and function. Synthetic thyroid hormone has a counter-clockwise rotated molecule (it is a “levorotary” isomer). Early research has proven that D-thyroxine (dextrothyroxine, once marketed as Choloxin, a clockwise rotated molecule) has different properties and effects than L-thyroxine (levothyroxine). Most importantly, the D-isomer has about 7% the potency as the L-isomer, which means that the structure is …
Part 4: Can taking thyroid hormone kill or damage the thyroid gland?
CAN TAKING THYROID HORMONES HARM YOU? In the video analyzed in this series (10), this man generalizes too far about all pharmaceuticals being harmful interventions. He thinks taking thyroid hormones, just because they happen to be a medicine, can actually kill or damage the thyroid gland (14:27 to 15:25). But thyroid hormone medications are not like other man-made chemical pharmaceuticals. You have to understand their structure and function to see this. By examining these medicines and our human responses to them, we can see that ANY prejudice against the pharmaceutical source is illogical and harmful — even prejudice against one …
Part 3: Distinguish between temporary and permanent hypothyroidism
THE SILVER LINING OF TRUTHS All persuasive claims have a silver lining of logic and common sense, or else they would be too impossible for anyone to believe. He discusses adrenaline. He gives the example of the body’s response to an impending car accident. Yes, our body secretes hormones like adrenaline at a very irregular rate and very quickly on demand. Yes, various hormones such as adrenal hormones and sex hormones do interact with each other and thyroid hormones. Yes, thyroid hormones are very sensitive to all sorts of influences. Yes, it is possible to temporarily depress thyroid function or …
Thyroid science naivety and quackery: Definitions
It’s worth a minute or two to consider what causes and promotes medical naivety and quackery and what could remove it. DEFINING NAIVETY “Naivety” (also spelled naïvety and naiveté) is defined by Oxford dictionary as “Lack of experience, wisdom, or judgement.” Being naive means you are simply unaware of basic knowledge, likely because you’ve never read it, heard it, discussed it, studied it, or observed or experienced it. There is nothing morally wrong with being naive. Ignorance is not a sin. Humility and active inquiry are key to acknowledging and moving past a natural state of naivety. We start out …