“But My Doctor Says My Thyroid is Normal”
April 25, 2013
Every week people arrive at the clinic wondering if their thyroid is working properly.
Often, these patients have had a conventional thyroid test and have been told by their medical doctor that everything is fine. They arrive at our office unconvinced, however, because when they look up the list of symptoms of low thyroid function, they seem to have them all.
When we test further, we often find that the thyroid really isn’t working optimally. Why is that? Why does the story differ from your MD’s office to ours?
The discrepancy arises because of the difference in what is tested, and when.
- Conventional medicine measures one thing: TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone). Your medical doctor uses that number as a way of assessing how well the thyroid is doing it’s job. If that test is normal, your MD won’t test any further. You’ll be told your thyroid is not the problem. End of story.
- Naturopathic doctors measure more initially. Like your MD, we test TSH, but we also look at T4 (the inactive form of thyroid hormone), T3 (the active form) and TPO (a thyroid antibody).
Why? Because some people can have normal TSH levels, but still have thyroid issues which are only revealed by looking at the other numbers. Those people get the “all clear” on the first test, and their MD doesn’t look any further.
Why the difference in testing? It’s a difference in philosophy. Your MD is really trying to determine if your thyroid is diseased. As ND’s, we want to know if it’s working optimally, and those are not the same thing.
Curious about your thyroid? You can book an appointment online, or call the clinic at 705-444-5331.
Something Old, Something New
October 11, 2011
Hi All,
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. A couple of quick clinic updates you might find interesting, including a new resource by request!
-Tara
New Face: Lori Prest, RN
Please join us in welcoming Lori Prest, RN to the StoneTree Naturopathic Team. Lori is our new colon hydrotherapist and brings many years of experience in the world of complementary medicine to our team here in Collingwood.
StoneTree has been offering colon hydrotherapy for the past 3 years. This safe and effective treatment tool is a powerful method of detoxifying the liver, as the bowel is responsible for getting rid of the body’s fat soluble toxins.
Fall is one of the best times to detoxify to boost both your energy levels and immune function for the coming winter months. If you are interested in learning more about colon hydrotherapy contact the office at 705-444-5331.
Our Archived Articles, Now Online
We’ve written dozens of articles for various publications over the years, and we get frequent requests for them. You can now find the growing collection here:
http://stonetreeclinic.com/about/articles/
We’ll be adding more over the next week as we get everything compiled online.
Enjoy!
Is Your Calcium Supplement Increasing Heart Attack Risk?
April 21, 2011
New research in the British Medical Journal, reported up to a 24% increased risk of heart attack in post-menopausal women taking calcium supplements. As most of my 50+ female patients are being told to take between 1200-1800mg of calcium a day by their MD’s, I know this research will result in a lot of questions.
The medical community is questioning the validity of the study, which is to be expected. It’s a long-accepted truth in conventional medicine that women need calcium in very high doses to build bone, and paradigm shifts happen very slowly in medicine.
Understanding Calcium
As a naturopathic doctor, this tentative finding isn’t as surprising. When you have an understanding of how the body works at a biochemical level, the possible calcium-heart attack connection may make some sense.
Calcium has many important functions in the body, but it doesn’t work alone. It actually works in concert with, or in balance with, other nutrients. When you put calcium in the body in much higher amounts than normal, the other nutrients may not be present in high enough amounts to either support or balance what the calcium is doing.
Calcium is a contractor of muscles. All muscles, including, of course, the heart. Magnesium, calcium’s more chilled-out brother, is the relaxer of muscles. These two nutrients work in concert to effectively contract and then subsequently relax our muscles. With this relationship in mind, it might not be a stretch to consider that if you supplement calcium by itself at very high doses, there may not be enough magnesium around to balance it out and help our muscles to relax.
Want to read more about the study? http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-calcium-heart-20110420,0,4042620.story
Questions about your current calcium supplements? Just contact the office at 705-444-5331 or feelbetter@stonetreeclinic.com.
-Tara
