Treating Patients with Thyroid Dysfunction: A Holistic Approach
FEATURE
Todd G. Singleton
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in the neck that is responsible for producing some very important hormones. These hormones communicate with every cell in the body, determining the function of basic bodily systems. When something goes wrong with the thyroid, the consequences can reverberate throughout the body and cause a wide variety of uncomfortable symptoms. For patients, this can be a frustrating and frightening experience made even worse by inadequate medical care. To improve outcomes for these patients, chiropractors must step in and fill the gap left by conventional medical doctors by providing the holistic services that patients desperately need.
Thyroid Disorders Are Widespread but Misunderstood
In the United States today, thyroid disorders affect more than 20 million Americans, or more than 16% of the population. Women are disproportionally affected, with most figures estimating that women ai e five to eight times more likely to develop a thyroid disorder than men. However, most people don’t realize that many thyroid disorders are autoimmune in nature, and as such, require special care. Existing pharmaceutical treatments focus exclusively on the thyroid and leave the immune system entirely out of the picture. Many doctors never even disclose to patients that their thyroid condition is an autoimmune disease, rationalizing that the treatments still remain the same.
Conventional Treatment of Thyroid Disorders is Ineffective, At Best
Though millions of Americans suffer from thyroid disorders, up to 60% of these individuals are undiagnosed. This means that millions of Americans are suffering from the symptoms of a thyroid disorder without knowing what’s wrong or what they can do to fix it. These people never receive the treatment that they need. For patients who do receive a diagnosis, they often find that the medication they’re given fails to resolve all of their symptoms. These patients continue to experience fatigue (and other symptoms) long after their blood work has begun to register as “normal.”
This is because synthetic thyroid medications (Synthroid or generic lévothyroxine) only replace one thyroid hormone—thyroxine (T4)—assuming that the body will be able to convert it into the other hormone—triiodothyronine (T3)—on its own.
‘* However, most people don’t realize that many thyroid disorders are autoimmune in nature, and as such, require special care. J J
“To help a patient customize his or her diet specifically for thyroid health, I steer the patient away from foods containing soy, dairy, and conventionally raised red meat. 5 J
The fact of the matter is that if your patients aren’t optimally healthy, this conversion may never happen. Many different bodily organs and tissues are involved in this conversion process, including the liver and kidneys. These organs must be healthy for T3 conversion to take place. Conventional medical doctors are aware of these details, but fail to consider their implications when prescribing thyroid treatments and evaluating patients’ remaining symptoms. As chiropractors, we can do better.
Chiropractors Must Fill the Gap to Provide Essential Services
To successfully treat patients with thyroid disorders, I recommend a holistic approach. Because thyroid disorders aie often autoimmune in nature, treatments should aim to end the body’s attack on itself, reduce inflammation, and stimulate healthy thyroid function. To accomplish these goals, I’ve had success with nutritional protocols, high-quality supplements, and lifestyle coaching. These techniques provide the person (and the body) with the resources he or she needs to heal naturally.
Nutritional Protocols
If a patient is suffering from a thyroid disorder, I start by recommending the saine healthy, anti-inflammatory diet that I recommend to all of my patients. This involves a lot of vegetables, a moderate amount of fruit, and some source of protein throughout the day. To help a patient customize his or her diet specifically for thyroid health, I steer the patient away from foods containing soy, dairy, and conventionally raised red meat. These foods contain phytoestrogens that ai e chemically similar to estrogen and can exacerbate autoimmunity.
It’s also important for thyroid patients to eat foods rich in naturally occurring iodine and selenium. The best way for patients to get enough iodine in their diets is by eating healthy sea vegetables, such as kelp, dulse, nori, or kombu. Though these foods may seem a little weird at first, they’re remarkably easy to incorporate into an otherwise healthy diet. For selenium, patients can turn to Brazil nuts and many types of seafood (tuna, salmon, shrimp, etc.). Selenium helps protect the thyroid when the body is under stress, keeping your patients’ thyroid levels in a normal range.3 Iodine helps support thyroid function by providing your body with the precursors it needs to manufacture its own thyroid hormones. These two micronutrients can
make a world of difference in your patients’ health.
Naturally Effective Supplements
For my thyroid patients, I always recommend a variety of natural supplements that support healthy thyroid function. At the top of the list, I recommend an herbal supplement that contains thyroid-boosting botanicals, such as kelp, Coleus forskohlii, bladderwrack, ashwagandha, and ginseng. These herbs work synergistically to support the body’s natural production of thyroid hormones. To balance hormones more generally, I recommend two additional products: DHEA and wild yam cream. When used together, these two products provide the body with the hormone precursors it needs to correct hormonal imbalances and restore the body to better health. For those straggling with low energy levels, I find that a B12 supplement can also be enormously helpful.4
Lifestyle Coaching
Though diet and supplementation are extremely important, lifestyle choices can affect thyroid function too. When discussing these choices with my patients, I emphasize three things: sleep, stress, and exercise. Adequate sleep is especially important for thyroid patients because thyroid hormones and sleep hormones (cortisol and melatonin) ai e intertwined. If a patient is getting too little sleep, his or her body will overproduce cortisol at the expense of melatonin. Too much cortisol will inhibit the body’s production of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), thus impairing the thyroid’s function. Too little sleep can also contribute to ongoing inflammation.
For healthy thyroid function, low stress levels aie essential. Chronic stress (and thus, chronically elevated cortisol) will affect the thyroid’s function for the same reasons discussed previously.6 For patients straggling with stressful life situations, you can recommend a variety of stress-reducing therapies and lifestyle strategies. Sometimes the solution can be as simple as daily meditation.
■ ^Adequate sleep is especially important for thyroid patients because thyroid hormones and sleep hormones (cortisol and melatonin) are intertwined. 55
For best results, your patients will need to be involved in some type of physical activity, despite the low energy levels that normally accompany a thyroid disorder. As a doctor, showing a little empathy in this arena will go a long way. If you can convince your patients to work up the motivation to exercise, they’ll see that their energy levels improve dramatically. Exercise really helps the body out of a low-energy funk. Just remember that these patients need to be especially attentive to their bodies and must avoid pushing themselves too hard or for too long.
If current trends continue, we’re going to see many more thyroid patients in coming years. What you do as a chiropractor—and which services you offer— matter a great deal in the treatment of thyroid disorders. Chiropractors play a critical role in offering holistic health services that aren’t available elsewhere. It’s up to you to ensure that your patients receive the quality of care that they deserve.
References:
1. American Thyroid Association. General Information/Press Room. Retrieved from http://www.thyroid.org/media-main/ about-hypothyroidism/
2. McGrogan, A., Seaman, H. E., Wright, J. W, de Vries, C. S. (2008). The incidence of autoimmune thyroid disease: A systematic review of the literature. Clinical Endocrinology, 69(5), 687-96.
3. Drutel, A., Archambeaud, E, Caron, P. (2013). Selenium and the thyroid gland: More good news for clinicians. Clinical Endocrinology, 78(2), 155-164.
4. Jabbar, A., Yawar, A., Waseem, S., Wasim, S., Islam, N, Haque, N. U. (2008). Vitamin B12 deficiency common in primary hypothyroidism. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 58(5), 258-61.
5. Van Cauter, E., Knutson, K. Leproult, R. Spiegel, K. (2005). The impact of sleep deprivation on hormones and metabolism. Medscape Neurology, 7(1). Retrieved from http://www.medscape. org/view article/502825
6. Mizokami, T, WuLi, A., El-Kaissi, S., Wall, J. R. (2004). Stress and thyroid autoimmunity. Thryoid, 14(12), 1047-55.
Todd Singleton, DC, is an author, speaker, and consultant who has been a practicing doctor for more than 20 years. He ran the largest MD/DC/PT clinics in Utah before switching to an all-cash, nutrition model in 2006. He runs a very successful practice in Salt Lake City.
For additional information, contact him at 801-903-7141 or contactixfDoctorsGoldMine. com, or visit www. ChiropractorGoldMine. com.
