Myxedema- The forgotten Test for Hypothyroidism.

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Was given a link to this article. Some of the extracts below. Make for shocking yet interesting reading.

for one its almost a relief to read in print what I am and suffering with. It is like somebody has actually sat down and not only listened but wrote it down and actuallly researched Hypothyrodism.

More horrifying is I can see my children in this article.

Link =

tuberose.com/HypothyroidSym...

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Myxedema - The forgotten test for Hypothryrodism.

In 1878, Dr. William Ord performed an autopsy on a middle-aged woman who succumbed to hypothyroidism. Upon cutting into her skin, he saw tissues that were thickened and boggy. The tissues appeared to be waterlogged, but no water seeped from his incisions. Dr. Ord realized this disease was unique and previously unrecognized.

Dr. Ord summoned a leading chemist named Halleburton to help identify the substance causing the swelling. What they found was an abnormally large accumulation of mucin. Mucin is a normal constituent of our tissues. It is a jelly-like material that spontaneously accumulates in hypothyroidism. Mucin grabs onto water and causes swelling. Dr. Halleburton found 50 times the normal amount of mucin in the woman’s skin. Her other tissues also contained excess mucin.

The doctors coined the term myxedema. Myx is the Greek word for mucin and edema means swelling. Myxedema was adopted as the medical term for hypothyroidism.

The edema or swelling associated with hypothyroidism usually begins around the face, particularly above or below the eyes and along the jaw line. However, the skin on the side of the upper arms may be thickened early in the course of the disease. The swelling associated with hypothyroidism is firm and will eventually spread throughout our body’s connective tissues.

One of the many functions of connective tissue is to help hold our bodies’ organs and structures together. Connective tissue lines our blood vessels, nervous system, muscles, mucous membranes, the gut, as well as each and every cell in our glands and organs. Abnormal accumulation of mucin in these tissues causes swelling and significantly impairs normal function.

This type of swelling is unique to hypothyroidism. Medical textbooks about hypothyroidism state that myxedema is thyroprival (pertaining to or characterized by hypothyroidism) and pathognomonic (specifically distinctive and diagnostic). Translation: if the thickened skin of myxedema is present, you have hypothyroidism. Normal skin is relatively thin, and you may easily lift it with your thumb and index finger. If you look, you’ll find a number of people whose skin is almost impossible to lift. This is due to the marked swelling and glue-like infiltration of mucin in the skin and underlying tissues that result from hypothyroidism. Women’s skin usually has slightly more subcutaneous fat than men. Hence, their skin tends to be thicker. There are many different degrees of myxedema.

Unfortunately, even if your skin is of normal thickness, you may still have hypothyroidism. It is only one of many signs of this condition. This diagnostic clinical finding has been forgotten, usurped by the almighty thyroid blood tests. Mucin is a normal constituent of our tissues, and its accumulation is often increased with hypothyroidism. However, the accumulation of mucin may only affect the internal organs and tissues and spare the skin. You may have hypothyroidism despite having normal skin.

Today’s doctors are not taught to examine for thickened skin or other physical manifestations of the illness. Sophisticated thyroid blood tests are purported to be the sole means for making the diagnosis of hypothyroidism. These tests have replaced the patients’ medical histories, complaints, and physical findings upon which the diagnosis was largely based for over half a century before the advent of blood tests.

During the first half of the twentieth century, prior to complete reliance on blood tests to diagnose hypothyroidism, elevated cholesterol was considered one of the hallmarks of hypothyroidism. In 1934, Dr. Hurxthal found cholesterol levels were very closely related to basal metabolic rate. However, since then, research showed there were many hypothyroid people, both young and old, with normal or lower than normal cholesterol levels.

An extremely prevalent symptom of hypothyroidism is a lowering of body temperature. The low temperature is a direct reflection of decreased metabolism. In a 1915 medical journal article, the author, Dr. Eugene Hertoghe, stated, “Hypothermia is an almost invariable accompaniment of even the slighter forms of thyroid insufficiency. Such patients, the younger ones more particularly, complain of chilliness of the hands and feet; they never feel warn, even in bed.” Dr. Ord, the doctor who named the illness in 1877, stated, “The temperature of the body is generally below normal, 97 or 96 degrees Fahrenheit being a common record; and the patients are extremely sensitive to cold.” Hypothyroidism is not the only problem that may lower the patients’ temperature, but it is definitely the most common.

Eugene Hertoghe MD began his work in the late nineteenth century and devoted much of his energy to the study of hypothyroidism. Dr. Hertoghe was the first doctor to recognize the prevalence of mild forms of the illness. Drs Hertoghe and Hermann Zondek described numerous symptoms and physical characteristics of hypothyroidism, many of which have vanished from today’s textbooks.

The signs observed more or less regularly are:

General indolence and inertia, lassitude, constipation, anorexia, tendency to fat deposits especially around the hips and above the mons veneris (pubic bone), deep depression of the root of the nose, delayed dentition and caries (tooth decay), chilly sensation, dry skin, swelling and pallor (paleness), of the mucous membranes, enlarged tongue, rheumatoid pains, sometimes in the joints, oppressive feelings and convulsive pains in the cardiac region. Skeletal changes are common, particularly scoliosis and general contraction of the pelvis. Chronic deforming changes in the joints are observed.

Sleep apnea is also listed in medical texts among the symptoms resulting from hypothyroidism. In medical textbooks, iron deficiency anemia and vitamin B12 deficiency are associated with hypothyroidism.

Hypothyroidism may not cause any mental disturbance. The mental changes may be mild or only become evident at a much later age. However, statistics show mental problems are beginning earlier and increasing in severity. Suicide is now the third leading cause of death among 10 to 24 year-old Americans.

There is a long list of mental problems linked to hypothyroidism. Many of these mental infirmities are no longer linked to hypothyroidism in the newer literature. Nervousness and irritability are common as are apathy and listlessness. Problems with memory or problems performing tasks, which were done previously without effort, are additional signs.

Many other serious conditions are possible. Delusions, hallucinations (both auditory and visual), and frank insanity are just a sample. In spite of pronounced signs of the condition, many people retain their memory, judgment, and other mental faculties intact. But with progress of the disease these, too, are impaired. Not uncommonly, the emotions become unbalanced, occasionally genuine psychosis develops. The person may then become depressed or, more rarely, maniacal and have outbreaks of passion, rage, and even fury. Various forms of distressing obsessions have been recorded as well.

Melanomas are by far the deadliest form of skin cancer. People who have a large number of moles are at increased risk. In the original 1888 report, abundant moles and warty growths on the skin were noted physical findings associated with hypothyroidism. Moles are often developed, especially on the trunk. Moles tend to be hereditary affectations.

The persistent dogma continues to blame sunburns for the explosion of melanomas. However, unlike most skin cancers, melanomas often occur in areas that receive little sun such as the palms, soles of the feet, toes, vulva, vagina, esophagus, anus, or inside the mouth. The principal underlying problem appears to be Type-2 hypothyroidism and iodine deficiencies.

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Rest of the article is here. Shocking but interesting reading. Some parts maybe useful in re-educating certain unhelpful Drs.

tuberose.com/HypothyroidSym...