TSH Over 2.0 - Revelation from a US DR

[JLTsirius]

Have recently come across Dr Sara Gottfried. A highly qualified Harvard trained Dr/ Gyno.. I listened to a Webinar on Friday where she was talking about Hormones and healing our bodies.

What interested me a lot was her personal story. She found herself very unwell. Usual physical symptoms /stuff we all know. Fatigue, loss of libido, mood swings, weight gain, insomnia etc etc etc.

She went to her Dr. They offered her Prozac. She refused to take it. That started her mission to find out all that was wrong with her, how to help herself and how to get well.

She was HyPO, Sex hormones all over the place, high cortsiol + + +.

A bit here about her story

saragottfriedmd.com/about-d...

Once she fully realised it was a shockingly barren field of knowledge or help in medical circles in US. Her mission was to apply her medical knowlkedge to herself & try things to help herself then start sharing it with others.

Back to the Webinar

TSH over 2,0

The out of her mouth on the webinar came - "A body with a TSH over 2.0 is predisposed to Alzheimers". No idea if true, where she got that info from, if there are any studies, hoping the book will shed light. Maybe you enlightened peeps already know all about this.

Having been on the self help journey to wellness for a good while. I sometimes get overwhelmed with the amount of conflicting info on the web, in books and even on Forums. There are many strands on body/brain chemistry to know about, understand and help oneself to improve. So many things to assess for foods/diet etc - that's another area of totally conflicting information..Yikes why can't everyone sing the at least basics off the same hymn sheet!!. Likely there will be contradictions in Dr SG's book. But small insights to others shared wisdom I have found to be so fruitful....at least sometimes!

I share this in case anyone else wants to research Dr Sara Gottfried. She may not have all the answers, but I like it when someone is sharing from a place of having personally experienced something.

good health to all

JLT sirius

[helvella]

Oddly, one of the first papers I found said almost the opposite:

Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2006 Jun-Jul;21(3):182-8.

The significance of thyroid-stimulating hormone and homocysteine in the development of Alzheimer's disease in mild cognitive impairment: a 6-year follow-up study.

Annerbo S, Wahlund LO, Lökk J.

Source

Geriatric Section, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Occupational Therapy and Elderly Care, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.

Abstract

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) represents a transition between normal aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive value of vitamin B12/folate, homocysteine, standard laboratory parameters, and concomitant diseases for development of AD in persons with an MCI diagnosis. Development of dementia was followed for 6 years in 93 consecutively recruited MCI persons. Information concerning the above factors was obtained from medical journals. Thirty-four percent of participants converted to AD within 6 years. A forward stepwise logistic regression was performed. The odds ratio (OR) for the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was 0.777; for age, 1.084; and for thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), 0.287. The OR for homocysteine was 1.287 at 60 years of age and 1.087 at 65 years of age. Lower TSH levels together with the more established factors lower MMSE, higher homocysteine levels, and age were found to be predictive factors of AD. This may have clinical implications with regard to monitoring TSH levels and thyroxin substitution in MCI patients.

PMID:

16869339

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/168...

However, it could actually be that inadequate thyroid hormone is the issue and that in the above, the subjects were under on thyroid hormone but their pituitaries failed to produce sufficient TSH, whereas in the blog, the TSH reacting properly would indicate inadequate thyroid hormone?

If that is the case, it is yet another way in which TSH, as a diagnostic test for thyroid, fails to deliver.

Rod

[Aurora-auspice]

I So agree feel so overwhelmed with conflicting info often to point I shut down and end up unable to help myself at all because it feels as if I'll end up poisoning myself further than my body is already doing for me.

I do feel very strongly that diet is extremely important, balanced see octane fuel to function but again get totally confused as to what that balanced healthy diet is with the deficiencies attributed to modern farming, profit driven infiltration of hazardous food stuffs like the mad cow disease scare from animal products not heat treated to high enough temps and meat products from other animal sources creeping into the food chain, chemical pesticides genetic engineering, bacterial infection from vegetables and organic food rat excreta in prepared ready meals and factory packed food and deterioration of immunity in general population because we make everything to clean.

Common sense and instinct often seems to be best course of action but I am really looking forward to checking out Dr. Sara Gottfried so thank you for the post I'm off to check out that info now!

Take care and good health to you too

Aurora xxx

[RedApple]

This 'letter to the editor' from 2011 may be of interest:

Low Levels of Triiodothyronine in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

In conclusion, the present study suggests that a reduced level of T3, within the normal range, may be independently associated with cognitive decline in Alzheimer patients.

[tingles]

thanks for sharing that

[Hidden]

thank you for sharing. I haven't got chance to read it but is it implying that if you have higher TSH and lower T3 you'll develop or is it if you've EVER had a high TSH and low T3 you're more likely to develop?

[Starfish123]

Hi,

My mum has Alzheimer's, diagnosed 2007 or thereabouts. After my test results last year she was tested for TPO ab and they came back positive. Her TSH has been borderline previously.

Personally I think Alzheimer's is undiagnsed thyroid problems.

There is a trial, sorry cant remember the details but they are treating Alzheimer's with T3, apparently with good results, I wonder why?

[bobbyb in reply to Starfish123]

I completely agree.both my parents Have been diagnoised with Dementia, after pleading with my family that both my parents needed to see Dr Skinner. The Dr refused with their usual misinformed crap about Dr Skinner. As my Dad has always suffered from depression and now is partially sighted due to a build up of cholestrol behind his eyes and suffers from chronic fatigue.(again Thyroid related) his memory is now going. My Mums memory has completely gone. I even phoned their Dr saying that I also had memory problems and my life had been transformed after seeing Dr Skinner but to no avail. I thought I had got through to my Sister about this when she made an appointment on Harley St for an Endocrinologist for them. I could have wept when he said there blood tests were "normal". . I have given up now, sadly my Brother is a Doctor and he just changes the subject whenever I mention this.

[Issy]

The BBC website has a story stating that overweight people are predisposed to Alzheimers. Maybe its hypothyroid people that are prone to it - who also tend to be overweight.