The Power of the Thyroid
The thyroid gland deals with energy. It is responsible for seeing that just the right amount of energy is being generated in the body at the right places at the right time. This requires a broad area of control. There is a complex interplay of hormones and enzymes involved in the production of energy and the thyroid gland has the ability to affect them all. Consequently, thyroid malfunction may also produce a wide variety of effects.
In order to produce energy, the body requires sugar to burn. Therefore, thyroid hormones affect blood sugar levels, sugar production in the liver from proteins and fats, digestion of foods that produce sugar and absorption of sugar and nutrients from the intestine. Because the cells also require oxygen in order to burn the sugar, the thyroid hormones affect the lungs as well. Both sugar and oxygen must reach the cells (where the combustion takes place) and we see that the thyroid plays a role influencing the heart, blood and circulatory system. A pounding heart for instance is commonly a thyroid problem.
The combustion of the sugar in the cells to produce energy is a very complex and carefully regulated procedure. If it were not so, all of the energy produced would simply be given off as heat rather than having a good deal of the energy captured in a form that the body is able to use. Indeed, a sign that the thyroid is not doing its job in regulating this properly is that the person feels too hot or too cold. This precisely controlled combustion requires many enzymes, minerals and vitamins in addition to the sugar and oxygen. Enzyme production, mineral balance and vitamin use may all be determined by the thyroid in conjunction with the other hormones that it influences. Calcitonin is a special thyroid hormone and is one of the primary hormones that regulate the calcium in the blood.
Besides the direct role that the thyroid plays on all of the factors necessary in the production of cellular energy, there are the effects produced on the body because the total amount of energy produced is incorrect. Energy is necessary for all body functions including healing, digestion, exercise, reproduction and internal metabolic processes. If energy is low due to thyroid malfunction the person will feel tired and weaker. They may have difficulty losing weight. The immune system may not function as well. White blood cells have been found to have very high amounts of thyroid hormone in them. Because the liver performs so many functions requiring energy, it has more thyroid hormone than any other tissue. Liver functions such as excreting cholesterol into the gallbladder as bile and detoxification of toxins and chemicals may be interfered with.
The brain and nervous system burn more glucose (basic sugar) than any other part of the body. The thyroid malfunction plays an important role in brain and nervous system function. A child that is born without a functioning thyroid gland will be mentally retarded and is called a cretin. Difficulty concentrating, poor short-term memory, nervousness and irritability, susceptibility to depression and mental illness have all been linked to a malfunctioning thyroid gland. Blood tests for the thyroid are not always accurate. Besides not testing for the active or “free” thyroid hormone in the blood, it has been found that the level of thyroid hormone output changes dramatically throughout the day. Scientists researching the thyroid gland in the past tested blood levels of individuals up to six times a day and found that they were getting different readings almost every time. If you consider that the thyroid’s job is to regulate energy production in the body according to environmental needs and that a body’s environment, motion and energy demands are constantly changing, it makes sense that the output of thyroid hormone is supposed to vary.
You can see a problem with taking thyroid hormones. The hormone levels are supposed to vary throughout the day. If taken in pill form they do not. Though some hormone is better than none, (even if it does not vary), a better solution is to see if it might be possible to fix what is interfering with the normal thyroid function. Synthetic hormones such as Synthroid may also be problematic. There are several thyroid hormone fractions or types. The principal two are labeled T4 (or thyroxin) and T3. Synthetic hormones are only T4. Though T4 will raise the metabolism or energy of most cells of the body, there are certain tissues upon which it has an opposite effect. These are skin tissue, nervous system tissue (including the brain) and brown fat tissue (important for burning fat). In other words, the skin, brain and nerves and fat cells may actually have worse function when taking the synthetic hormones. These tissues require the T3 fraction. If the thyroid gland has been deemed irreparable then there are natural preparations available such as Armour Thyroid that include the T3 fraction as well as the T4 fraction. Unlike some of the synthetic T4 brands that have been found to vary in potency from batch to batch (so much that in 1997 the FDA informed the makers that they had to re-apply for approval), the Armour brand was found to be consistent from batch to batch when tested.
The thyroid is an extraordinarily important gland. It is in charge of the energy or power for the body. When the power goes out all of the machinery stops working. If the power is not regulated properly you can get power surges (which have the potential to burn things out) and power fades and things fail to run right. Though the thyroid gland receives its orders from higher up in the brain, it is the thyroid’s job to see that these orders are executed properly with priority and efficiency.
I could list all of the possible symptoms associated with a thyroid gland that is malfunctioning and all of the possible things that can interfere with thyroid function but the list would be quite long. Instead I’ll just say that if you feel that things are not right and running well in your body, even if you had a blood test that said your thyroid gland is “OK”, you might want to see if your thyroid shows up as needing nutritional support with Cause Point Correlative Testing. Call (260) 459-6160 (Ft. Wayne) or (773) 929-3964 (Chicago) for an appointment or pass this information to a friend in need who might benefit.
