Thyroid and Heart Disease - beyond the basics.

Do you feel as if you have many symptoms of a thyroid disorder but every time you have the lab test done, you're told it's "fine."

You've got it all - the cold hands and feet, the inability to lose weight despite a healthy diet AND exercising at least 30 minutes most days of the week, tendency towards constipation, dry hair, dry skin, feeling sluggish and tired.... yet why are you considered "normal" or "fine?"

It's my opinion that a complete thyroid test should be run on everyone (men too) every couple of years especially after major events such as birth, menopause, trauma, stresses...etc.

What do I mean by complete?

I mean running the TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) plus the two free hormones - Free T4 and Free T3. In addition, I always would run an adrenal salivary test (www.salivatest.com) because the adrenals and the thyroid talk non-stop like teenagers on myspace!

This may help to uncover sub-clinical hypothyroidism as well. That means you aren't exactly overt hypothyroid but you're almost there.

As a Naturopathic Physician, I believe it's important to pull you away from the cliff before you get too close and fall off. That's the difference between sub-clinical and overt.

Why is this important? Well, you can have all those symptoms as described above and only be "sub-clinical" or edging closer to the cliff.

Plus, in the April 28, 2008 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine they reported that sub-clinical hypothyroidism can have a higher risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) death than women with normal thyroid function.

Does this mean you will have to go on thyroid replacement? Not necessarily but it's important you talk with your health care practitioner about your options.