Hashimotos Thyroiditis
Auto-Immune Hypothyroid
Hashimoto’s disease is a disorder that affects your thyroid, a small gland at the base of your neck, below your Adam’s apple. The thyroid gland is part of your endocrine system, which produces hormones that coordinate many of your body’s activities.
Every cell in your body has receptors for thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones are in charge of boosting cellular metabolism.
Some common symptoms of hypothyroidism:
- Fatigue,
- Weight gain,
- Anxiety, depression
- Dry skin, brittle hair
- Hair loss
- Ankle swelling
- Constipation
- Gas/bloating
In Hashimoto’s disease, also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, your immune system attacks your thyroid gland. The resulting inflammation often leads to an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism). It primarily affects middle-aged women, but also can occur in men and women of any age and in children. Hashimotos Hypothyroidism is one cause of low/underactive thyroid.
Hashimoto’s is the number one cause of hypothyroidism in the United States. Unfortunately, many physicians do not test for the diagnostic markers of this disease.
If left untested and untreated for too long, the destruction on the thyroid can continue leading to more issues in the future. There are numerous replacement thyroid medications on the market. One is not necessarily the best for every person.
Simply replacing thyroid hormone in Hashimoto’s disease is not enough. The body is creating an immune response against the thyroid and that immune response is going to continue. Treatment needs to be directed towards balancing out the immune system in order to treat the underlying cause of Hashimoto’s thyroid disease.
The naturopathic doctors at Renū Progressive Medicine specialize in Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism and will help to explain why your thyroid labs might look normal and you are still experiencing many hypothyroid signs and symptoms.