Hypothyroidism: Cause or Effect?

The way health care is set up today, a doctor is of the mindset to find what disease is causing the person to be sick and treat the illness. You target in on the area that explains the problems and treat that. You are no longer Mr. and Mrs. Smith, you are a diabetic, a cancer patient, or a patient with a thyroid disorder.

Alternative practitioners have a slightly different viewpoint. They address the whole person as opposed to parts of the whole. This doctor feels that you can't have a problem in a single area without affecting other areas. They try to treat the person to bring them up to the optimal level of health so that their body can adjust to take care of the problem.

In a person with hypothyroidism, the most popular way to treat the problem is by giving more thyroid hormone. Many people feel better, while some may even get worse.

The flaw in this way of treatment is that it assumes that the problem lies in the thyroid's ability to produce its own thyroid hormone. It ignores the tons of literature that has demonstrated many other causes that has made a person have hypothyroidism. Missing the cause can lead to less than desirable results.

One other point to consider is the hypothryoidism a cause or effect. Most people know that people that have hypothyroidism often times struggle with weight loss. This is usually a sign that helps make the diagnosis. It should also be known that a person that is not active and gains a larger portion of body fat will often times decrease their thyroid production through multiple causes.

What about the cause and effect of taking thyroid hormone medication when your thyroid is functioning as it should? Might this have a negative effect on your thyroid? Might this have a negative effect on other body parts?

There are many that find great relief with medications, and I am not saying to get off them. My point would be to make changes in your life that will help your body help itself. Who knows, you might get to the point that you no longer need medication.

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