hello to all the science/medical based people on here. I’m hoping for some inspiration/advive
I am completing my MSc in nutritional Medicine and at the dissertation stage. Given my own journey with autoimmune thyroiditis (ords) I’d be really keen to do my dissertation in this area. Unfortunately they won’t allow literature reviews.
I’d love to hear any ideas anyone has around a project title/hypothesis or potential grant application. Re: autoimmune thyroiditis and nutrition
There is a lot of research surrounding selenium reducing antibodies so I don’t want to repeat this.
Thanks.
#research #hypothyroid #nutrition #gluten
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Ktlc
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This sounds interesting. If you can't do literature reviews how would you get your data? Could you, for example, do a survey? Just thinking you've got a potential 100k+ members here to give their experiences
Thanks - yes, I can do a survey and this is a great forum to support that. I am just not 100% sure what I want the study to be on. It has to be very specific. i.e. "200mg of Daily Selenium Supplementation over a 6 month period significantly decreased TPO when compared with controls". I also have to consider ethics etc.
Personally, gut health has been a major issue. So suggestions about role of the following whilst hypothyroid: probiotics, prebiotics, AI protocol diet, increasing stomach acidity and absorption, use of digestive enzymes, gluten free, dairy free. Obviously a lot has been studied regarding vitamins, iron.... but 'optimal' compared to being at bottom of normal range?
Thanks - I do like the idea of Gut Health and Thyroid as the microbiome is an area I'm really interested in. I wonder if I could look specifically at stomach acid? Thanks for your suggestion
I've found betaine hydrochloride particularly helpful with both digestion and silent reflux. I used them for a few weeks, then didn't seem to need them for months. Now I'm back to needing them again...
A suggestion - you could write on the subject of forgotten signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism, that doctors really ought to know. Common practice in medicine now is to consider hypothyroidism to be a simple, uncomplicated, and unimportant disease that women make too much fuss about.
1) Investigate plantar fasciitis (PF) in people with untreated hypothyroidism. It tends to go away when people get sufficient T3 in their bodies. Doctors don't appear to know it happens in hypothyroidism. It is a commonly mentioned problem on this forum, and the treatment used for it by doctors (injections of various substances into the feet? exercise?) can actually damage the feet, when adequate levels of T3 will make it go away quite quickly (within weeks) without any other treatment. Personally I think it should be considered to be used as an indication of untreated or under-treated hypothyroidism.
2) Before the development of TSH, Free T4, and Free T3 tests doctors knew that high cholesterol was an indication of hypothyroidism. They appear to have forgotten it, and they are no longer taught it. In my opinion they need to be reminded of it because giving statins to people with untreated or under-treated hypothyroidism can cause lots of problems :
If you have an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), treatment may be delayed until this problem is treated. This is because having an underactive thyroid can lead to an increased cholesterol level, and treating hypothyroidism may cause your cholesterol level to decrease, without the need for statins. Statins are also more likely to cause muscle damage in people with an underactive thyroid.
3) There are other signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism that doctors don't know or have forgotten, but now they rely solely on blood tests. Doing so misses cases. I have a dodgy pituitary (it's squashed flat). I had a problem of "dirty elbows and dirty knees" that I first noticed in childhood. My skin in those areas was "stained" greyish/brown and was extremely dry to the extent of being sharp. I used to ladder tights on it all the time. I wasn't treated for hypothyroidism until I was in my 50s, and even then I was assumed to be exaggerating everything because my TSH was never terribly high. (I have unrecognised Central or Secondary Hypothyroidism because doctors believe it's very rare and therefore they don't even need to consider it.) Now my thyroid is treated properly my dirty knees and elbows have disappeared and look like they ought to.
4) More forgotten signs and symptoms can be seen in this thread :
Thanks so much - yes the cholesterol one is extremely frustrating. I had a heated discussion with my GP as my cholesterol was 6... I initially went because I "knew" I had a thyroid problem, but they were adamant they weren't connected. I resisted the statins, but seeing my cholesterol was high was a massive confirmation of my own thoughts. Really like this. Thanks for the reminder.
Two areas which keep cropping up - and still have inadequate usable information are:
Iron and everything to do with supplementing it.
The precise forms of vitamins and minerals (and other nutrients). Where the precise forms have different effects, require a different doses, etc.
And possibly one of the biggest, how nutrients affect each other if taken together or separately. The most obvious issues being things like multivitamins and even B-complexes.
Hmmmm yes, this would be really interesting and extensive! Trying to nail down the interactions of various micronutrients for 'ideal' levels would be huge. Unrelated, but the literature on omega 3's and B vitamins on Dementia is so complex. I'll have a good think about this one. It's something I'd love to know. IT would be amazing to have 'optimum levels' of biomarkers for those with Thyroid Disease... I wonder how I would establish that. Maybe I could do a Meta-Analysis of the research already done. That may work (thinking out loud)
IT would be amazing to have 'optimum levels' of biomarkers for those with Thyroid Disease... I wonder how I would establish that.
You could ask us on some of those optimal levels. In some cases we have patient experience as a guide but in other cases we have research papers that back us up.
The potential issues with any Meta investigations these days are that huge amounts of research are being published that do not demonstrate sufficient validity and reliability and yet are not challenged. This may be partly due to the fact that research is expensive to conduct and thus relies on external funding that tends to come from 'interested parties' shall we say! I guess that as long as you can acknowledge the 'unknown' aspects/ nature of your meta sources, it may be a good and worthwhile issue to study. I speak as a former academic research specialist and MA/PHD advisor/examiner.
Another thought. High or low cortisol seems to play a large part in the success of thyroid hormone treatment & it is a challenge to manage the two together. For example, before taking T3 when T4 alone isn’t effective, the advice is to sort out cortisol levels first. How is the tricky bit. Paul Robinson’s method of taking T3 in the early hours to regulate cortisol works for some but is it more effective than taking supplements or are they better in combination?
Adaptogens are often mentioned here as being helpful but it’s difficult to know which to use & how. Could you do a study on the effects of ashwaganda, holy basil, etc with reference to thyroid disease? I’m just starting on a course of a combination adaptogens & I think it might be proving helpful already. This is after decades of thyroid treatment so I’m still looking for answers.
I’ve stayed away from using supplements for cortisol help after a disastrous time on a Ashwaganda supplement which I think used the wrong part of the plant & caused many trips to the loo to pee throughout the night. So side effects & poor control of herbal supplements is another area your study might touch on,
My initial thought was "why are GPs so bad at thyroid problems" but that would be a rather huge study!
I have not found any studies on trace elements and thyroid. In farming, we test trace elements in sheep and cattle, and then provide the elements if needed, as we know how important they are for optimum health.
Good luck with your dissertation. Dont do what I did and lose control of the data and chuck the whole thing in the fire! (I did sort it though!)
Have you looked at the research by US thyroid pharmacist Izabella Wentz? I think she’s done masses related to autoimmune. Can you spot a gap in her studies?
I also think testing efficacy of the many many many supplements we have rattling around in drawers would be good.
I agree with stomach acid as a former silent reflux recoverer who maintains with apple cider vinegar and occasional betaine with pepsin.
My biggie is ferritin, without it I’m a husk of a human despite seemingly optimal thyroid hormone levels.
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