Dr. Gilbert Danforth

Alternative Medicine Center

4417 71st Street

(806) 794-6252

The starting point for making cholesterol the poster boy for heart disease was a 1913 paper that demonstrated feeding large amounts of cholesterol to rabbits would cause the appearance of atherosclerotic lesions. This set off a frenzy lasting more than 80 years to implicate poor cholesterol as the devil incarnate of heart disease. Unfortunately, it took 50 years for investigators to discover that feeding high levels of cholesterol to rabbits also suppressed their thyroid function. In fact, it was demonstrated that feeding high levels of cholesterol to rabbits would not cause atherosclerosis if they were given thyroid hormones at the same time.

It is also known that hypothyroidism increases triglyceride levels and lowers HDL cholesterol levels. Since the triglyceride/HDL cholesterol ratio is a surrogate marker for insulin, this would suggest that hypothyroidism increases insulin or that increased insulin lowers thyroid levels. In either case, the result would be the same.

All blood testing is by definition a snapshot of the blood. It tells you nothing of the cellular levels of the hormone nor how well the hormone is really doing its job. In the case of hormones, patient symptoms are of greater importance and information. Insulin resistance is another example where blood levels appear normal but because of insulin resistance, the hormone is unable to do its job. How well your thyroid is functioning is best determined by your own description of you symptoms, confirmed by a medical test we routinely use in the office which utilizes a kinemometer to determine Normal, Hyper or hyperthyroid function at the physiological level and possibly by a blood or urine test. It is estimated from blood tests that perhaps only 4 percent of the elderly population have low thyroid function. Yet, a lot more thyroid is being prescribed, which means from a functional standpoint that supplemental thyroid is giving benefits to patients with otherwise “normal” blood levels.

Standard blood tests depend on blood levels of the thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) or the T4 hormone. Although, these are the standard tests, they may not indicate thyroid inefficiency at the cellular level. As a result, a person can have “normal” test results, but still have symptoms of low thyroid. This is why many experts recommend a 24-hour urine collection with complete chromatographic analysis of both the thyroid and adrenal hormone levels coupled with an exhaustive patient diagnosis based on symptoms. The reason that adrenal function should also be checked is because of the need for cortisol to convert T4 to T3. If adrenal output is low, then supplemental thyroid could overwhelm the limited adrenal reserve and cause additional hormonal problems.

In cases of severe hypothyroidism, known as myxedema, some very characteristic symptoms emerge. Weight gain, dry skin, brittle hair and fingernails, increased joint pains (and increases in other autoimmune disorder), decreased resistance to infection (depressed immune system), slowly healing wounds, slow and clumsy speech, depression and decreased sexual function are commonplace. On closer inspection, many of these symptoms that characterize severe hypothyroidism seem very similar to those found in Type 2 Diabetics who are Hyperinsulinemic by definition.

Some common indicators of low thyroid hormone function

Cold intolerance

Depression

Fatigue

Sleepiness

Muscle weakness

Brittle fingernails and hair

Elevated cholesterol

Dry skin

Weight gain

As you may have noticed, many of the symptoms of low thyroid function are similar to those seen in individuals with a poor Eicosanoid balance, again suggesting a linkage between the two hormonal systems.

Therefore, if poor Eicosanoid balance and Hyperinsulinemic are linked to hypothyroidism, then the Zone Diet offers a significant intervention for improving thyroid efficiency. First, the Zone Diet will increase the levels of cyclic AMP, thereby enhancing the action of TSH in the formation and release of T4 from the thyroid gland. Second, it will decrease elevated levels of insulin, which appear to cause accelerated degradation of T3, the truly active form of thyroid hormones. Third, increasing T3 reduces the production of precursors of “Bad” eicosanoids by decreasing the activity of the delta-5-desaturase enzyme just as glucagon and EPA do.