June 11, 2010

Thyroid/Wilson syndrome: The Miracle of Feeling Well

Are you wondering why you still have symptoms even though you are taking thyroid medication?
Or, you are experiencing the symptoms of thyroid disease (i.e fatigue, weight gain,
anxiety, depression, mood swings, irritability, memory loss, migranes, PMS, hair loss, low sex drive, decreased motivation, IBS and others), but the blood tests showing your thyroid is normal?
You may be suffering from Wilson syndrome, or you are taking wrong medicine.
Wilson syndrome: the cluster of seemingly unrelated symptoms that result from a maladaptively slow metabolism due to an impairment in the conversion of T4 to T3 (thyroid hormones) especially caused by significant  physical, mental, or emotional stress (often persisting even after the stress has passed), and characterized by a body temperature that runs, on average, below normal with routine thyroid blood tests often being in the “ normal range”.  It is a reversible low temperature problem that can change your life.
The key to accurate diagnosis of thyroid disease is clinical suspicion of subtle signs. The body temperature is one of the simple ways to check your thyroid function. The body temperature is a result of the thyroid stimulation of the cells. Trying to manage a patient on thyroid medicine using only thyroid blood test a guide is a little like trying to write your name with a floppy pencil.
Our bodies struggle to maintain a body temperature very close to 98.6 F or 37C, for a good reason (entire metabolism depends on proper temperature) You and I have body temperatures that run about 22.5 degrees above typical room temperature while the picture on the wall and just about everything else in the room is about 22.5 degrees cooler.  How strange.
It is amazing. People can be tall or short, adult or child, male or female, heavy or
skinny, white ,black, brown, or otherwise; but their temperatures are all about the same. It is hard to imagine a characteristic that changes less between people than do their body temperatures. The function of the entire metabolism depends on the body temperature, because it dictates the shape and therefore function of the body’s enzymes.
And, what’s the thyroid’s main function?  To regulate metabolism. This is one reason why body temperature is such a good guide to thyroid hormone treatment.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.