Looking after your health can be overwhelming, especially with the plethora of advice available. But there is a simple starting point: test your thyroid function. Your thyroid function may be the key to deciphering many health issues, as approximately 40 percent of the population is affected by hypothyroidism, or low thyroid function.
Thyroid Awareness
Unfortunately, mainstream medicine doesn’t often focus on thyroid health. It may be tested routinely, but a more careful evaluation is often missed, leading to misdiagnosis or neglect of potential thyroid issues. An elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level of 3 or higher indicates the need for further examination, as it could be linked to problems like heart disease or cancer.
Hypothyroidism treatment is simple and natural, which doesn’t bring in significant financial gains for medical professionals and pharmaceutical companies. Instead of addressing the cause of health problems, modern medicine mostly suppresses symptoms with drugs. Ignoring thyroid function issues may lead to metabolism changes, elevated cholesterol levels, weakened heart muscles, and heart disease. Instead of properly diagnosing low thyroid function, patients may be prescribed statin drugs for high cholesterol – a costly and not necessarily effective treatment plan.
The Importance of Thyroid Function
Managing your thyroid function is crucial since even a slightly underactive thyroid can cause a multitude of health problems and symptoms. These include being overweight, slow heart rate, high blood pressure, heart failure, accelerated heart disease, and numerous other concerns.
While it’s possible to get a doctor’s test for thyroid function, you can also do a self-assessment with the underarm basal temperature test. This method involves monitoring your underarm temperature for five consecutive days while you’re at rest. If your average temperature is at least one degree below 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, you may need thyroid therapy. It’s important to consult with an alternative doctor to confirm this suspicion and obtain a prescription for natural thyroid medications, such as Armour Thyroid.
Iodine and the Thyroid
Iodine plays a significant role in maintaining a healthy thyroid, as it supports the production of thyroid hormone. With depleting soil nutrients, daily supplementation of iodine is essential. Lugol’s iodine, available at drugstores, is an excellent supplement, but iodine can also be found in natural food sources.
According to Dr. David Brownstein, iodine deficiency is a major contributing factor to breast cancer and other reproductive organ diseases such as ovarian, uterine, and prostate cysts and cancer. You can find valuable information about the significance of iodine deficiency in his book, Iodine, Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It.
Prioritizing your thyroid health is a great start for overall well-being. The simplicity of a self-test like the underarm basal temperature method can help you get a genuine understanding of your thyroid function, with or without a doctor’s assistance. By being proactive in caring for your thyroid, you could be positively affecting your heart health, weight, and other related illnesses.