The Thyroid Myth that Doctors Still Believe
Channel: BioBalance Healthcast
Date: 2021-03-01

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I have had hypothyroidism since I was 23, so I have had an interest in the thyroid gland, how it works and what treatments work and which ones don’t for my entire adult life.  In medical school in the 70s I was told that the thyroid was easy to diagnose, all you had to do was draw one test, the TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) and if the TSH was high, the thyroid was underactive, and if it was high the thyroid was overactive. Like many medical myths, this myth has been repeated to all medical students for the last 50 years without question, and subsequently millions of women have been under-treated or left untreated secondary to this Medical Lie repeated in every medical school.

The information I reveal in this Healthcast will support the above allegations by way of my 40 years of experience as a physician, 50 years as a hypothyroid patient and the new book Lies My Doctor Told Me, by a physician named Dr. Berry, who uncovers all the outdated and untrue misinformation doctors were taught in medical school and residency.  His book confirms what I have been telling patients, contrary to common medical practice, for over 40 years. He quotes and recommends my book, The Secret Female Hormone, to his readers because my book uncovers the lies about what hormones women need and don’t need at menopause.  

Today I would like to base our discussion on the information in both of our books and support the true information with my medical experience. I hope you learn several things about one of the most important glands in your body, the Thyroid:
• Thyroid function is complicated and the most direct blood tests are the free T4 and free T3. These two tests are not infallible, but they generally parallel a patient’s symptoms. Free T3 and Free T4 are repeatable which means the test is consistent. However, resolution of hypothyroid symptoms is the best sign that your thyroid is working properly. Following the TSH alone is absolutely the worst way to manage your thyroid!

• Thyroid disease predominantly attacks women and therefore is not a priority for medical doctors (DO Doctors of Osteopathy are trained with less sexual inequity than MDs) as most women’s diseases are considered second class, because MDs still instruct their doctors that women are all crazy and that women are always looking for a way to lose weight without effort. These false negative generalizations remain as an undercurrent in medical education even though women are finally almost 50% of the medical school classes.  For example, doctors often tell women they are imagining their symptoms if they are still hypothyroid when the doctor has given them inadequate doses of thyroid replacement medicines.

• Thyroid replacement must be taken in a specific way to be effective (alone on an empty stomach) and absorption in the intestines require good gut bacteria, adequate iodine, adequate sex hormones and normal cortisol to be completely effective.
• Endocrinologists are not your best choice in doctors to manage your thyroid. They are the specialty in charge of the thyroid, but their management hasn’t changed in 50 years.  Endocrine Society does the research that confirms and publishes articles that use multiple tests including free T3 and free T4, plus positive hypothyroid symptoms to diagnose hypothyroidism. Endocrine journals teach the opposite:  they tell their doctors that the non-specialist order too many tests and criticizing the use of Armour Thyroid® the best replacement for women. Endocrinologists dismiss most female patients with true thyroid disease if their TSH is normal.  My advice is to find a doctor who listens to and reviews your hypothyroid symptoms as well as your lab work including free T3 and free T4 tests.
• The best thyroid replacement is determined by your gender.  Women respond better to Armour Thyroid® (pig thyroid) than Synthroid® or levothyroxine (generic Synthroid). Men respond better to the two synthetic thyroids, Synthroid® and levothyroxine better than natural thyroids.

The thyroid gland is located in the lower third of the neck just above the collar bone. It is shaped like a large butterfly. If healthy, it isn’t obvious when looking at someone except if it is abnormal and swollen which is what we call a goiter.  The thyroid gland is essential to life and affects every cell in the body regulating cellular and physiologic rate of metabolism and burning of calories. When the thyroid gland is underactive it causes severe fatigue, weight gain, swelling throughout the body, memory loss, hair loss, dry skin, goiter, lack of the outer third of eyebrows, constipation, feels cold all the time when everyone else is comfortable, and memory loss and confusion.  If the thyroid is not working at all it causes a condition called myxedema which results in severe swelling, confusion, and coma.  The thyroid gland is the most important gland to human life.