Hildreth on Health: Balanced thyroid function takes on utmost significance

“He who enjoys good health is rich, though he knows it not.”

That is an old Italian proverb that came out of an old book.

Why is it that we don’t think about maintaining good health until we don’t have it?

Every time I sit down to write next week’s article, I cannot help but be amazed at the cooperative respect and balance between the different systems of the body.

It is too bad that we cannot have some of the same respect and cooperation in running the country.

Many times as we get older, one or more of our important life-deserving organs are weak and struggling to do its job to maintain health and life.

Millions of aging Americans like you are waking up each day with hypothyroidism, sometimes hyperthyroidism. Because of a more complex hormonal integration, you ladies are more subjected.

As the thyroid begins to fail and is unable to maintain its part of the complex hormonal balance, it throws a strain on other hormonal glands.

As times goes on and multiple glands are failing, it can be difficult to know which of the complex glandular mechanisms may have been the primary cause for the dysfunction.

Almost all hypothyroid and hyperthyroid dysfunctions are secondary to an autoimmune disease process. That means it is in the category of a whole host of autoimmune disease such as diabetes, arthritis, allergies, and a whole host of other chronic diseases.

The significance of the thyroid is its importance in controlling cellular metabolism, speeding it up when need be and slowing it down when needed. This has to do with fat and cholesterol metabolism, energy production, weight, immune function, anxiety/depressive reactions, and premature aging which is displayed by changes in hair growth, skin texture, diabetes, memory impairment, and a host of other aging processes.

Thyroid balancing can be very complex and time consuming. It would be like correcting a problem on your car without shutting off the engine. The thyroid is controlled by many checks and balances. There is still much controversy as to the correct blood level for normal thyroid function.

Too-high levels would be excess thyroid output and too-low thyroid output would indicate a hypothyroid state. Many physicians are comfortable with monitoring thyroid balance by monitoring thyroid blood tests only.

Because thyroid monitoring is so complex and the fact that much of the thyroid hormone output is called thyroxine, it has to be converted to T3 (which is triiodothyronine) at the cellular level before used.

Thyroid function is basically controlled by the hypothalamus and pituitary, both located in the brain, so brain function plays a big role in thyroid output and function.

Because of all of this complexity including past history and nutritional status, a good examination should include a complete medical history, thyroid blood tests, basal body temperature, and complete physical examination.

Basal body temperature is simply a rough evaluation of the speed of cellular metabolism when the demand for energy is at its lowest, which is first thing in the morning before arising.

The prevalence of hypothyroidism is staggering. David Brownstein, M.D., a specialist in thyroid diseases, estimates that 40% of the adult population or approximately 52 million adult Americans are suffering from an underlying hypothyroid condition.

Many nutritional deficiencies, medications, and toxic environmental contacts influence the balance of thyroid function.

Typical signs and symptoms of possible hypothyroid state may include brittle nails, cold hands and feet, cold intolerance, depression, dry skin, high cholesterol, fatigue, hair loss, hypotension, inability to concentrate, irritability, poor memory, puffy eyes, slow heart rate, and of course the old slow gradual weight gain, and there certainly would be other potential thyroid related problems worth pursuing.

It may not be something that your doctor would consider as the primary cause for multiple accelerated aging problems or processes. It is worth discussing this with your physician, but it is obvious that it is not always simple to correct and there probably is not one simple little blood test that will answer all of the questions.

There is no question that the thyroid may complicate heart and circulatory problems, diabetes, weight problems, and other female hormonal problems.

Share your aging challenges with your doctor. He or she should welcome your input. Thyroid imbalance can play a big role in instigating or complicating a whole host of other health problems.

We will become more involved in further thyroid-related health problems in the next article.

Here’s to your good health.

Contact Green Valley Dr. DeWall J. Hildreth at 625-1101 or

cnhcgv@yahoo.com. Dr. Hildreth specializes in hormone balancing and

musclo-skeletal degeneration. He practices with Continental Natural

Health Clinic at 210 W. Continental Rd., Suite 130. His column appears biweekly in the Green Valley News.