Causes of Hypothyroidism: Autoimmune Disorders
Posted on: February 13, 2006 | Posted in: Medical Information
There was a time when the leading cause of hypothyroidism was iodine deficiency. In some areas of the world, this may still be the case, but in most of the northern hemisphere the advent of iodized salt and multivitamin supplements, and “enriched” food products have pretty much eliminated iodine deficiency. Anyone who tells you to take iodine supplements for your hypothyroidism had better have just gotten test results back indicating an iodine deficiency in your specific case… otherwise, their advice is likely to be utterly irrelevant to your situation.
There are a number of other causes for hypothyroidism. Unfortunately, most of them are poorly understood, and the treatment still almost universally consists of “take replacement thyroid hormones in a quantity sufficient to return your TSH/T4/T3 blood levels to normal,” as the underlying triggers are mostly impossible to verify or reliably address. Nonetheless, here’s Part One of a basic overview of the most common causes of hypothyroidism, according to my personal research:
Now that iodine deficiency has been mostly wiped out in the developed world, autoimmune disorders have become the most common cause of hypothyroidism. Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is the best known of these conditions. In Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, the body’s immune system causes chronic inflammation of the thyroid tissue, eventually leading to permanent damage.
The diagnosis of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is generally made via blood tests indicating elevated levels of thyroid antibodies in the blood. However, not all doctors routinely test for these antibodies, because the general treatment is just to prescribe hormone replacement medication, and check and see if any apparent inflammation diminishes. If initially noticeable inflammation is reduced, many doctors figure all is well, and do not pursue the underlying cause of the initial inflammation any further.
There is some debate in the medical community regarding the efficacy of treating autoimmune disorders directly. Traditional allopathic practitioners tend to respond to autoimmune disorders by treating the symptoms rather than searching for a cause, because no single, definite cause is known to trigger such problems.
However, many natural health practitioners strongly support the idea of going to great lengths to determine if the patient has any kind of environmental/chemical sensitivity which may be triggering an autoimmune response. Some patients claim a wide range of symptomatic improvement in all sorts of conditions, autoimmune thyroiditis among them, when they reduced their personal exposure to household chemicals or certain food additives.
There is certainly no harm to be done in reducing your exposure to household chemicals, or eating a more natural diet. So long as you are continuing to take your prescribed thyroid medication, and have your TSH/T4/T3 levels checked regularly, there is no reason not to hunt for possible environmental contributors to your thyroid problems. If you can arrange to have a thyroid antibody test done, you will know whether autoimmune problems might be contributing to your hypothyroidism, and can work with a sympathetic medical professional to hunt down possible causes.
Another autoimmune disorder which may be affecting your thyroid is rheumatoid arthritis. A blood test for Rheumatoid Factor is available. My RF levels were elevated when I first visited the doctor about my collection of mystery symptoms that led to my hypothyroid diagnosis. Other autoimmune disorders include Raynaud’s Syndrome, Sjogren’s syndrome, scleroderma, fibromyalgia, and many other endocrine and connective tissue disorders.
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