Natural Health

They just might be…

While the thyroid is but a small butterfly-shaped gland, it produces several hormones, some of which help oxygen get into your cells. It is also the master gland of metabolism.

Because of the number of hormones produced, the thyroid can control a large number of conditions in your body. These include energy or fatigue, weight loss or gain, blood pressure, and mental alertness, among others.

When out of balance, the thyroid can cause sufferers to experience a wide variety of unpleasant symptoms, many of which a doctor cannot explain, because thyroid tests don’t always reveal the imbalance. When the imbalance is tiny, it is known as “thyroid shadow syndrome, and it often goes undiagnosed.

In fact, of the estimated 27 million Americans who have thyroid disease, more than half go undiagnosed. You can experience nagging health problems for years without your doctor even guessing that your thyroid may be the root cause.

Women are the primary victims – with a 7 times greater likelihood of thyroid problems than men. In fact, every woman faces a 20% chance of getting this disease at some point in her life. Often, the symptoms mimic those of other diseases and thus doctors misdiagnose them entirely! Other doctors brush them aside as part of growing older, or tell patients that it’s “all in their heads.”

What causes thyroid imbalance? Radiation is one of the primary factors. So are drugs such as lithium and cordarone. Over-consumption of isoflavone-intensive soy products, and/or of uncooked “goitrogenic” foods can also bring on the disease. These goitrogenic foods include brussesls sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and kale.

In addition, some people have a higher risk, either genetically or through environmental or pharmaceutical exposures. Women and people over 60 are at higher risk, as are smokers.

What should you do if you experience ongoing health problems that your doctor can’t diagnose? Insist on a thyroid test, if you haven’t had one. If you have, and if the test is negative, consider that you may have “shadow syndrome” and discuss possible treatment with your doctor.

Perhaps you can find a doctor who believes in natural medicine, and can re-balance your thyroid with herbs rather than pharmaceutical drugs.

Interestingly, when researching this problem with regard to dogs, I found the same information: Thyroid disorders are often either overlooked or misdiagnosed.