As a follow up to my previous post on Brain Health and Hashimotos Hypothyroidism, which you can read about here, I wanted to share my key takeaways from another talk given by Dr Datis Kharrazian on Hashimotos Hypothyroidism at The Thyroid Summit.
- Most people who take thyroid medication for Hypothyroidism don’t know that they actually have an autoimmune condition called Hashimotos Hypothyroidism, which is actually an autoimmune attack against your thyroid gland.
- 90% of Hypothyroidism is actually Hashimoto’s
- Doctors don’t usually test for thyroid antibodies because it does not change your treatment for Hypothyroidism. It’s just expected that over time, you will need to continually increase your thyroid medication every year.
- The hypothyroidism is actually secondary to Hashimoto’s Autoimmune reaction in which the immune system is attacking the thyroid gland
- When you lose self tolerance against your thyroid gland, you can develop autoimmune reactions against any other tissue in your body, even your brain
- An autoimmune condition is caused by a loss of self tolerance which leads to the formation of antibodies against your own self tissues
- Many people with Hashimoto’s also have other autoimmune conditions, most commonly Celiac Disease or Gluten Sensitivity and Brain Autoimmunity, and these antibodies can be tested using a special panel from Cyrex Labs.
- Zonulin, the protein that causes leaky gut, also causes leaky brain
- Just giving L Tyrosine or Iodine are too simplistic in this complex web of Hashimoto’s.
- Cyrex Labs is the worlds leading lab for autoimmune testing
- Testing for intestinal permeability or leaky gut, celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, gluten associated cross reactive foods testing, and predictive tissue antibodies, are all tests that should be considered in patients with hypothyroidism.
- There is no such thing as a single-organ based autoimmunity and if you have autoimmunity you have multiple tissue reactions.
- Antibodies are actually predictive and can show up years before symptoms start. If antibodies are present, you can be certain that eventually you will develop an autoimmune condition.
- In people with multiple chronic conditions and numerous seemingly unrelated symptoms, they often have antibodies to multiple tissues, like brain, pancreas, joints, thyroid, adrenals, etc. They actually have one key thing, which is an autoimmune response and treatment should be aimed at dampening the autoimmune response with diet and lifestyle rather than multiple medications to just manage the symptoms.
- Dietary proteins, like gluten and casein, can trigger autoimmunity.
- Gluten can cross react with other foods like milk, corn, sesame, and rice, so even if you are eating a gluten free diet but are eating cross reactive foods, you could still be provoking an autoimmune reaction. Grains tend to be the most cross reactive foods with gluten.
- Going grain-free or adopting an Autoimmune Paleo diet is the best thing to do if you have Hashimoto’s Hypothyroid or even just primary Hypothyroidism.
- Blood sugar swings and insulin spikes trigger a release of the inflammatory cytokine IL-6, which turns on TH-17 cells, which trigger an autoimmune response.
- TH-17 is an inflammatory cytokine that causes autoimmunity to progress more quickly. It is driven by stress, overtraining, and blood sugar spikes.
- Fighting with your spouse increases TH-17 levels for up to 3 days afterwards.
- Antibodies are flags for the immune system to know which cells/tissues need to be attacked and destroyed. They do not cause destruction by themselves. TH-17 cells are the destroyers that look for flags and damage tissues.
- Either low or high blood sugar can trigger an autoimmune response. Thyroid patients who do not control their blood sugar won’t get better.
- Transglutaminase is a marker for gluten sensitivity.
- Hashimoto’s is an incurable condition but it can go into remission and be managed with diet, lifestyle and patient education. They need to manage their triggers, whether it be gluten or lack of sleep, for the rest of their lives.
- If you tend to feel better after meals, you likely have functional hypoglycemia. With low blood sugar, you often don’t produce enough adrenal hormones wake with no appetite, wake in the middle of the night, crash in the afternoon, get shaky, light-headed and irritable, have fatigue, depression, and mood changes. To alleviate this, you must change your lifestyle by eating protein and vegetables within the first hour of waking, and never skip meals. Failing to prevent blood sugar crashes has devastating consequences to your immune system and can increase TH-17.
- Those with difficult to manage functional hypoglycemia often have antibodies against their adrenal glands, which is why they can’t fix their hypoglycemia.
- If you tend to feel worse after meals, you likely have insulin resistance.
- You cannot supplement you way out of hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s. You must commit to an entire diet and lifestyle change.
- Vitamin D, Low Dose Naltrexone, and probiotics can help to balance T regulatory cells, which can help control autoimmunity. Other strategies include nutrition, raising glutathione, lifestyle, exercise, relationships, and sunlight.
- Glutathione is best given in an IV or IV push.
- S-Acetyl Glutathione can be used orally if you cannot get your glutathione through IV.
- Liposomal glutathione is another way to get glutathione absorbed systemically.
- Inhaled or nebulized glutathione is best for upper respiratory conditions and pulmonary conditions.
- Just because glutathione gets into the blood steam does not mean it is getting into the cells. We can use botanicals like N-acetyl cysteine, Centella (Gotu Kola) or Milk Thistle to help raise intracellular glutathione levels.
- Each patient requires individualized treatment. Many Hashimoto’s patients react to fillers in the bio-identical dessicated hormones like Armour or Nature-throid, many cannot tolerate T3, some just need T4. Everyone is unique and the best medication is the one that works best for them.
- You must go gluten free and dairy free, educate yourself about Hashimoto’s, take empowered action, avoid corn and soy, and find a doctor who practices functional medicine.
- Just because you see an alternative or complementary doctor, like a naturopathic doctor, does not mean they are the best doctor to manage your condition.
- Soy likely has more of an effect aggravating an immune attack rather than blocking thyroid hormone.
- Almost every single thyroid patient also has brain degeneration. Signs of brain degeneration are actually fatigue and depression, which are commonly associated with a problem in the thyroid gland.