One in 10 Americans has some degree of thyroid imbalance, and even mild imbalances can cause mental and emotional symptoms.
There are so many delightful things about Wine Country living, but it can be hard to truly enjoy them if you’re not healthy. It’s even harder when you’re not feeling your best and you don’t know why—when a string of seemingly unrelated symptoms leads to an overall sense of “something’s not right.” If this sounds like you, it might be time to get your thyroid checked.
The thyroid gland is located on the front part of the neck below the thyroid cartilage (Adam’s apple). The gland produces thyroid hormones, which regulate body metabolism. Thyroid hormones are important in regulating body energy, the body’s use of other hormones and vitamins, and the growth and maturation of body tissues. Diseases of the thyroid gland can result in either production of too much (overactive thyroid disease or hyperthyroidism) or too little (underactive thyroid disease or hypothyroidism) thyroid hormone, thyroid nodules and/or goiter.
One in 10 Americans has some degree of thyroid imbalance, and even mild imbalances can cause physical, mental and emotional symptoms. Sonoma County residents and authors of the book, Thyroid Mind Power, Richard Shames, M.D. and Karilee Shames, Ph.D., R.N., a certified holistic nurse, have been treating patients with their unique thyroid program for more than 25 years. Their northern office is in Cotati and their Central Clinic of Preventive Medicine Center is in San Rafael. Both learned, through their personal experiences of working with patients, that disparate symptoms like muscle soreness and fatigue, hair loss, weight gain or loss, sore throat and heart palpitations, as well as conditions such as depression, anxiety and irritability can all be the result of improper diagnosis and inadequate treatment of thyroid issues.
In the beginning
When Richard was 10 years old, his father had a heart attack. After the attack, his father’s physician advised him to stop smoking and to cut back on dietary fats and sugars. In his young mind, Richard asked, “Why didn’t they tell him to do this before the attack?” Shames believes this was the planted seed that led him to become a physician specializing in preventive medicine.
Another life-altering event happened when Karilee gave birth to her second child. Years earlier, at age 19, she’d been diagnosed with chronic thryoidits (also know as Hashimoto’s disease), a common thyroid gland disorder that can occur at any age, but is most often seen in middle-aged women. It’s caused by a reaction of the immune system against the thyroid gland. At the time, she was a U.S. Army officer candidate and nursing student studying in Spain. Fearing she might not be getting the correct diagnosis, she returned to the United States to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was prescribed synthetic thyroid medicine (which is standard for everyone diagnosed with thyroid problems). After she used the drug for several years, she thought she no longer needed it and stopped taking it.
She felt fine until she turned 32 and gave birth to her second daughter. After the delivery, she was diagnosed with postpartum depression (PPD), but because of her past medical history, she decided to recheck her thyroid function and found she needed to start taking the medication again. According to the Shames, PPD can be related to the thyroid and that link is often overlooked. Karilee explains that, during pregnancy, an expectant mother is more susceptible to autoimmune disorders. Often, when the mother feels horrible after giving birth, doctors neglect checking the thyroid and instead jump to a diagnosis of PPD. She also cites the statistic that eight out of 10 thyroid sufferers are women.
The depression connection
In the United States, depression is treated like an actual disease unto itself and is rarely viewed as a possible symptom of a greater problem, but Richard believes that 25 to 30 percent of issues relating to depression are a result of thyroid dysfunction. “The normal diagnosis route that’s taken with depression is to prescribe antidepressants, which oftentimes don’t work well,” he says. He believes the public is becoming aware that the side effects of antidepressants can sometimes be even worse than the depression itself.
Karilee goes on to explain that a variety of symptoms present themselves when patients are having thyroid problems. They can include fatigue, rapid or unexplained weight gain or loss, cold or heat intolerance, thinning hair, depression, dry eyes, dry skin, high blood pressure and a low libido. Often, women who are having difficulty with menopause can be suffering from thyroid issues.
Karilee believes some of the things that may be triggering depression and thyroid dysfunction in people is the fact that, in the past 50 years, more than 80,000 new synthetic chemicals have been introduced to our environment, including chemicals in the home. Some of them are known to be hormone disrupters, which affect the adrenal glands, which, in turn, affect the thyroid. Many can cause increased problems, particularly with our immune systems, because there are estrogen-like substances in the chemicals.
Often, the pollutants in the food we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink act like estrogen once they’re absorbed into our bodies, which can cause confusion in the hormonal system, which (again) leads to thyroid dysfunction. In his research, Dr. Shames discovered that, of the close to 80,000 chemicals in our environment, most haven’t been tested for being hormone disrupters.
The thyroid and adrenal glands are the body tissues most highly sensitive to synthetic chemicals of any sort, particularly pesticides, he explains. According to Shames, many insecticides that people use in their home or on lawns and gardens are hormone disrupters. Compounds like PCBs that contain chlorine and carbon, which don’t easily break down in the environment, can accumulate to high concentrations in our fat cells and become hormone disrupters. Certain plastic cling wraps are also hormone disrupters (he suggests people who buy fatty foods packaged in cling wrap, such as meat or cheese, unwrap the food after purchase and rewrap it in butcher or wax paper). He even cites Bis-phenyl A (BPA), one of the manufacturing byproducts found in plastic baby bottles, which can leak into formulas when heated.
Obtaining a diagnosis
To test for thyroid dysfunction, the Shames recommend a panel of five tests: TSH, Free T4, Free T3, Anti-TPO antibody and Anti-TG antibody. The tests can be ordered by your physician but there’s also an option for self-testing.
Richard believes the standard test of drawing blood and testing it isn’t as good due to delays in the testing laboratory. Better, according to him, is a finger stick test ordered online via The Canary Club, which, he believes is a more accurate diagnosis.
Shames explains in his book, venous blood (the standard blood drawn from the crook of the arm) isn’t as accurate for thyroid hormonal evaluation as capillary blood drawn from a fingertip. Capillary blood from a quick finger prick is immediately dried on a piece of special filter paper, fixing the specimen so the amount of TSH is stable until the test is actually run. The blood drawn from a vein in the arm is kept as liquid serum, usually all day, This blood, often drawn in the morning, is then driven by courier to a central location where, later on at night, it’s run through large automated machinery. During this time, the TSH, a fragile pituitary hormone, will have degraded: Less of it will be available in the tube to be detected. The result, therefore, won’t be as accurate, because some of the material you were trying to measure has degraded while waiting to be evaluated. However, he further cautions, a physician is needed to look at patient mood and other symptoms, not just a laboratory score, together with family history and physical signs, to make the best diagnosis.
The Shames also recommend that, instead of blood tests, health consumers use saliva tests for checking the two other energy hormone sites, the adrenal and sex glands. These newer tests measure hormone levels in tissues (where hormones actually do their work) thereby providing a more accurate assessment.
The Shames also worry that the TSH range many doctors consider “normal” doesn’t call attention to cases of borderline thyroid problems, and because of this, many doctors don’t order an accurate test for T3 levels. They believe it’s best, if one shows symptoms of thyroid problems, to consider a more open-minded doctor who may order alternative saliva, urine and/or blood tests to detect low thyroid function as well as suggest lifestyle changes and/or medications that can correct the problem.
An Eastern-Western approach
Along with treating patients with thyroid dysfunction medically, the Shames view education as vital to their approach. They believe in carefully and sensibly combining Eastern and Western modalities, and their daughter, Dr. Georjana Shames, LAc, NHD (“Dr. Gigi”), a licensed acupuncturist and doctor of natural health, is often brought in for adjunct treatment. She also collaborated on the book with her parents.
A doctor of natural health (NHD) utilizes nutrition, lifestyle planning and exercise advice to benefit patients’ overall well being without drugs (an M.D. can prescribe drugs, but not an NHD). Dr. Gigi remembers, as a young girl, when her father told her, “Sweetheart, remember: You can be any kind of doctor you want to be.” She believes it was the beginning motivation for her getting into the medical field.
After many years of working with people with thyroid problems, the Shames found that medication sometimes isn’t sufficient, and they began looking at Eastern modalities. When asked why her parents would refer thyroid patients to her, Dr. Gigi explains that, often when a patient isn’t responding optimally to regular Western medical care, Eastern modalities such as acupuncture can help. Acupuncture works by stimulating specific pressure points beneath the surface of the skin and helps to restore the proper circulation of energy throughout the body. Specifically with thyroid disorders, it’s believed that the gland has become unable to meet the demands of our daily lives—it’s basically fatigued and needs a boost. Acupuncture helps boost the efficacy of thyroid medication and other hormonal therapy.
Dr. Gigi often recommends nutritional supplements to her clients along with recipes that give the thyroid a boost. She also offers additional information on nutrition and interventions as simple as when to exercise, how much water to drink and how to get better sleep. Clients need this type of support due to a combination of factors, she says. First and foremost, people aren’t necessarily taught how to be an active participant in their health care and aren’t used to having a back-and-forth dialog with their doctor.
Making it personal
Susie Van Buskirk, 60, says that, when her gynecologist ran tests and noticed her body wasn’t absorbing calcium and that her TSH was high, she suggested Van Buskirk contact Dr. Shames. After being tested and treated for hypothyroidism, she noticed a drastic change: “I could hardly believe it! Here I am in my 60s, and I have more energy than I did in my 30s.” She attributes her success to proper testing and diagnosis, acupuncture, chiropractic care and changing her eating and exercise habits. She recognizes that sometimes getting to the point where you know it’s your thyroid and what type of supplements are necessary can be a long process, but, in the end, the results are worth the investigation.
Michael Kent, 61, suffered from hypothyroidism for many years. His symptoms included extreme fatigue, joint and muscle pain, hair loss, dry skin, sleepiness and a swollen face. He felt that the standard treatment only partially helped him. Because of what he was experiencing, he also had a hard time working. He knew he needed a second opinion, began researching doctors who specialize in thyroid issues, and found Dr. Shames high on the list on the Thyroid Patient Advocate website (www.thyroid-info.com). Kent still knows he has a way to go to achieve optimum health, but through his work with Dr. Shames in the past four years, he’s had increased energy and is able to remain employed.
The Shames also offer phone coaching sessions for people who don’t live in the area. Patients can call them and get some guidance on how to live a lot healthier. During the phone consultations, the conversation generally centers on the lab tests they’ve taken, along with offering guidance on how to speak to their regular doctor about the results and what they’re experiencing. While Dr. Shames can serve as a coach via phone, aside from suggesting useful over-the-counter thyroid vitamins, he can’t actually treat people or prescribe medications if he hasn’t first seen them as a patient in his office. Therefore, alongside the hormone coaching session(s), patients need to work with their personal physician.
Even if you, like millions today, have hit upon hard financial times, you still need to be adequately cared for. The Shames highly recommend that people educate themselves, demand better health care, inform their practitioners and seek their support. They also recommend that people seek practitioners who will work with them on their goals toward better health—and a better life overall.
