Thyroid pharma
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Why T4 monotherapy has dominated
All thyroid hormone medications have the potential to be effective: L-T4 (Levothyroxine), L-T3 (Liothyronine), and natural desiccated thyroid (DTE / NDT). However, each patient is unique in their response to these medications. Optimizing a patient’s lifelong therapy involves finding the right thyroid hormone medication, or a combination of them, to relieve as many symptoms of…
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All thyroid therapy is artificial
If you prefer natural desiccated thyroid (NDT / DTE) over synthetic thyroid hormone I know you might bristle at my word “artificial.” Animal-derived vs. synthesized — that’s not an argument I get into here. What I argue here is that at a more fundamental level, taking any ORAL thyroid hormone is NOT the same as…
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IMAGE: Thyroid patients on L-T4 therapy
For hypothyroid patients taking medication, TSH is not sufficient as a guide. The medication we take will always be different from a healthy thyroid gland. The red lines and shapes are thyroid patients on standard “L-T4 monotherapy” (i.e. Synthroid, Levothyroxine, or Eltroxin). This form of therapy gives us excess T4 and less T3 hormone. T3…