Alternative Medicine & Thyroid Disease: New Book by Stephen Langer, MD

For those of you who just can't get your thyroid questions answered, reinforcements have arrived!
Solved: The Riddle of Illness Your Amazing Thyroid and How You Can Work with it to Control Arthritis, Obesity, Depression, Diabetes, Heart Disease and Circulatory Problems, Cancer, Sexual Problems. This is the Updated Third Edition with co-author James F. Scheer. The authors offer advice on nutrition and other aspects of wellness that go beyond thyroid hormone levels and medications. They advise one thing that is invaluable - educate yourself and PARTNER with your doctor.

I can't emphasize how important that is. When you doctor realizes that you are educated, empowered and taking responsibility for your own health, he or she looks at you differently. You are no longer another patient. You are someone he or she can trust to follow the prescribed regimen and go above and beyond to help him or her help you.

One of our partners, About.com has a great feature - Thyroid-Info. Mary Shomon interviewed Dr. Langer about his book and recommendations. One example is the idea of taking a calcium/magnesium supplement along with an anti-inflammatory before going to bed for those who suffer from thyroiditis attacks. The book is available on Amazon.com and other locations.

Labels: alternative medicine, nutrition, thyroid

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American Thyroid Association Clinical Guidelines for Thyroid Dysfunction

The Standards of Care Committee of the American Thyroid Association (ATA), an organization of scientists and physicians dedicated to a better understanding and treatment of thyroid disease, has come out with some clinical guidelines for detection of thyroid dysfunction. Thyroid disease has been the most popular topic on this Health Observances blog, so Leigh Schevchik, the Blog Manager and I agreed to cover thyroid topics for the rest of the month of August, since the calendar of Observances is light this month.

Healthline has added a lot of exciting new content and we hope our new video content about thyroid disease from Healthology will help all of you with an interest in this subject matter. The ATA is recommending:

• Screening at age 35 for thyroid dysfunction and every 5 years thereafter: measurement of serum thyrotropin level (TSH)

The rationale for this is that the test itself is inexpensive yet prevalence of thyroid dysfunction is high, especially in women. I have not been able to get my hands on the exact numbers for prevalence but it looks like it is somewhere greater than 4% and under 10% for hypothyroidism, higher for hyperthyroidism. Please correct me if you have access to the exact numbers!

Risk Factors include:

• goiter
• family history
• diabetes mellitus
• pernicious anemia
• previous history of thyroid dysfunction
• vitiligo
• leukotrichia
• medications like lithium carbonate, amiodarone hydrochloride, kelp

The thyroid gland is a butterfly shaped endocrine gland found in the neck. It secretes hormones involved in growth and metabolism - T4 and T3, which are in turn regulated by thyrotropin (TSH). The hypothalamus in the brain regulates the secretion of TSH, and the amount of iodine and calories consumed also effects the process. The amount of calcium in the blood is regulated by the thyroid's secretion of the hormone calcitonin. All of these hormones interact with the central nervous system - an increase can result in anxiety and a decrease can result in infertility, decreased concentration and ability to think.

Our endocrine system is the very core of who we are - so no wonder so many of you have concerns about that little butterfly inside your neck! One alternative healing technique is visualization therapy. Using meditative techniques - relaxation, deep breathing - you can focus on visualizing your thyroid as a beautiful, healthy butterfly as you fall asleep and before you arise in the morning. It can't hurt and it just might help!

Thank you heyjules45 for use of photo.

Labels: meditation, screening, thyroid, TSH, visualization

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American Thyroid Association Requests Potassium Iodide for AntiTerrorism

The American Thyroid Association (ATA) has sent a letter to the White House requesting that potassium iodide (KI) be included as part of the antiterrorism response of the nation. The ATA is a professional society of over 900 health professionals who specialize in treatment of diseases of the thyroid gland. They are concerned that we are ill-prepared to protect young people against developing thyroid cancer in the event of a release of radioactive iodine.

In the event of radiologic accident - as in an attack on a nuclear power plant or release of a so-called "dirty bomb" - radioactive iodine would be released into the atmosphere. KI needs to be made available to everyone within 20 miles of a nuclear power plant. These clinicians cite the Chernobyl accident of 1986 as proof that a nuclear event of this type could result in thousands of cases of thyroid cancer in children exposed to radioiodines released into the atmosphere.

Clinicians emphasize that KI must be readily available in sufficient amounts near vulnerable sites because the key to improved protection is to give the doses quickly. Individually sealed doses protected from light are long lasting and inexpensive. The ATA urges the White House to end the delay and implement the guidelines of the DHSS.

Hanford Power Plant in Washington State near the Columbia River is a site where iodine 131 was released between 1944 and 1951 as the government experimented with ways to extract plutonium more quickly. The federal government made a covert decision to use the Pacific Northwest as an experimental laboratory. Scientists researched the health effects of the fallout of thousands of curies that were released into the atmosphere on an unsuspecting public. The classified studies were made public in the 1980's. Babies and children were especially vulnerable to absorbing the fallout via the food chain - through cow's milk after the cows had grazed on contaminated vegetation.

Scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, WA released a study in 2004 revealing direct evidence that the risk of thyroid cancer rises with increasing exposure to radiation. They found the incidence of thyroid cancer was 45 times greater among those who received the highest radiation doses as compared with those in the lower level doses. 5 million people were exposed to radiation at Chernobyl and while thyroid cancer was nonexistent in children prior to the event, the incidence was devastating after the event.

We can avoid a repeat of this tragedy if only we heed the warnings of the ATA.









Image from Delmar Publishers, Inc. reproduced with permission: The thyroid gland produces T4 and T3 in response to a production of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) from the pituitary gland .

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Oscillo (Oscillococcinum) - Homeopathic Remedy

Oscillo (Oscillococcinum) is a patented, commercially-available homeopathic remedy. What is a homeopathic remedy or homeopathy you ask? Well the idea behind homeopathic treatments is the principle of "let like be cured by like".

As of January 2006 a number of studies have been conducted to assess the efficacy of Oscillo (Oscillococcinum), some to test it's efficacy in preventing influenza and others to test it's efficacy in treating active influenza infections. Of those, only two had enough information to accurately assess the results.

The product is made from the heart and liver of wild duck (Muscovy Duck); these organs are natural reservoirs for influenza viruses. Exposure to the influenza virus from the reservoirs is thought to boost one's immunity against influenza infection. Based on the aforementioned studies there is no evidence to support it's efficacy as a preventative therapy against influenza. As far as shortening the duration of an active influenza infection, this is still controversial, Oscillo (Oscillococcinum) was found to reduce the length of influenza illness by 0.28 days and it increased the chances that patients considered treatment to be effective.

Bottom line: this product has not been evaluated by the FDA so be sure to let your healthcare provider know if you are using it. If your symptoms persist or get worse after 3 days of using it, stop using the product. If you're diabetic you may want to double check the sugar content in each dose; if you are pregnant or breast-feeding then, once again, definitely check with your healthcare provider first. No data is available about using Oscillo (Oscillococcinum) in children. As far as drug interactions with this product, at this point not much is known but because it is derived from a natural source there is the possibility, rare though it may be, of having a serious hypersensitivity reaction to the product.

Labels: homeopethy, influenza, oscillo, oscillococcinum

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Novel Drug - Selzentry (Maraviroc) - Approved for Adult HIV Patients

Selzentry (Maraviroc) was approved by the FDA on Monday August 6th, 2007 for the treatment of adult patients infected with HIV. It is a novel drug, which simply means that there is none like it currently in use and it is the first in a brand new class of HIV drugs. This class is known as the CCR5 Co-Receptor antagonists and their mechanism of action is to slow the advancement of HIV.

Selzentry (Maraviroc) is to be used in combination with other anti-retroviral drugs in adults with HIV who have been treated with other HIV medications but still show evidence of an increase in viral load (increased levels of HIV in their blood).

The drug comes with a boxed warning about liver toxicity and additional warnings/precautions about the possibility of heart attacks. No data is available on the safety and effectiveness of the drug in patients, adult or pediatric, that have not been treated with any other HIV medications. Also, there is no information regarding it's use in pregnant women.

The most commonly reported adverse events during clinical testing of Selzentry (Maraviroc) were fever, upper respiratory tract infections, cough, abdominal pain, dizziness, rash, and musculoskeletal symptoms.

Selzentry (Maraviroc) is available in 150mg and 300mg tablets which are taken twice a day with or without food. The drug should not be taken with St. John's Wort as this lowers the levels of Selzentry (Maraviroc). It is manufactured by Pfizer, Inc.

Photo courtesy of mentalacrobatics

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