The thyroid gland produces hormones that regulate the body’s metabolic rate controlling heart, muscle and digestive function, brain development and bone maintenance. The signal to produce & release hormones from the thyroid comes from a small gland located at the bottom of our brain called the pituitary gland. Normally the thyroid gland produces the exact number of hormones needed to keep your body’s metabolism running and in balance.
However, there are several disorders associated with the thyroid gland with most problems concerning the production of thyroid hormones. Either the thyroid gland produces too much hormone (called hyperthyroidism) or your thyroid doesn’t produce enough hormone (called hypothyroidism), resulting in your body using energy faster or slower than it should.
On a worldwide scale, approximately 200 million people have some form of thyroid disease. People of all ages and races can get thyroid disease. However, women are 5 to 8 times more likely than men to get problems with their thyroid function.
Why Your Thyroid Medication Might Be Failing You
Over the past several years, women have been seeking out the Happy Hormone Cottage to get their hormones checked and then balanced. Their focus has for the most part has been on balancing estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. Part of our strategy is to educate our women on the 3 major hormones of the body: Insulin, cortisol, and thyroid.
Most women have “had” their thyroid checked by blood and have often been told that they are “normal”. Worse than that, women have often been diagnosed with low thyroid or hypothyroidism, but have been inadequately treated. Relying on these same tests to determine dose has left most women under-treated and left with not feeling any improvement when taking thyroid medication.
How To Properly Test for Thyroid Function
The problem with current thyroid blood testing is that it doesn’t acknowledge the role of thyroid in the body. Thyroid does not have any effect in the blood. In order for thyroid to be effective, it must leave the blood and enter the cells.
Once inside the cells, thyroid (t3) travels to the mitochondria (think energy factory) and is involved in a complicated chemical reaction to produce energy for the cell. Without thyroid, there is a significant lack of energy and the cell either loses function, or dies. There are a great many processes that effect thyroid’s ability to get in the cell and work its magic. When testing only blood, the assumption is that all these processes are working effectively and this clearly isn’t the case. This is why so many women don’t feel their thyroid medication is working.
In an effort to solve this issue, the Happy Hormone Cottage has begun testing thyroid function. Once we check existing thyroid blood levels in our unique 11 point panel, we have begun also testing the effectiveness of thyroid INSIDE the cells. The machine we are using to test this thyroid function is called the Thyroflex.
Click here to learn more about thyroid health & the Thyroflex.
We are now offering zoom video conferencing and telephone conferencing appointments with our experienced patient consultants ($25) to learn more.
Schedule a zoom video conference or a phone conference appointment by calling our office at 513-444-6343.
