June 26, 2021 – This week on A Different Perspective, Dr. Patrick Flynn continues our series exploring The Wellness Way’s approach to thyroid health.
If you missed earlier episodes in this series, check out these recaps:
The Wellness Way approach to thyroid health comes from many different angles because many different systems are affected by the thyroid. To recap, there are four questions you should be asking about your thyroid health:
- Production: do you make enough?
- Conversion: does your body convert T4 to T3?
- Destruction: is there an auto-immune issue?
- Interference: what’s triggering the problem?
Dr. Patrick Flynn states that today’s primary focus is on Destruction. He states that it is perhaps the most important factor to focus on because it is the most common factor that interferes with thyroid function.
Is There an Autoimmune Issue?
Unpacking that question is the focus of today’s episode. Dr. Patrick Flynn reviews research from PubMed to communicate that autoimmune thyroid disease (including Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s) are the most prevalent autoimmune diseases, affecting 2-5% of the population worldwide.
In an autoimmune disease, antigens (specific foreign agents) cause an immunological response from the body. The immune system gets triggered by a foreign agent and therefore responds with T cells or B cells. Because the thyroid receives a significant amount of blood flow, it can potentially come across foreign agents in the blood and therefore respond by attacking those antigens, causing thyroid tissue damage and altered thyroid function. The body produces antibodies that attach to the cells and destroy them, causing cell death.
Dr. Patrick Flynn makes the very important note that the immune system does not make mistakes. Autoimmune conditions where the body attacks itself are not a mistake. They happen for a reason. The immune system’s job is to find foreign things and get them out of the body. An immune reaction is not a mistake; it is the immune system doing its job.
When traditional medical language refers to autoimmune reactions as the body attacking something “by mistake” or “by misfiring,” it is not giving an accurate portrayal of what happens in an immune response.
Hashimoto’s Disease
Hashimoto’s disease is the most common cause of hypothyroidism, a condition in which the immune system attacks the thyroid. This means that the #1 cause of hypothyroidism is an immune issue. The #1 reason people have thyroid issues is an immune issue.
Case Study #1
- 31 year old female that cannot get pregnant
- Symptoms include dramatic weight loss, racing heart, anxiety, and poor sleep
- Diagnosed with Graves’ disease
Upon testing conducted by The Wellness Way, she was found to have high TSI (thyroid stimulating immunoglobin). Other thyroid antibodies were also high, leading to destruction in her tissues. She had very high T3 (off the charts), high T4, very low TSH, and very high sex hormones. Receiving hormone shots/hormone replacement therapy induced this hyper reaction.
To gain a full picture of her health, The Wellness Way also ran a stool analysis and food allergy panel. Once all of the information was gathered, a protocol was presented to her. After following The Wellness Way’s protocol, retesting was conducted at regular intervals and found that her TSI decreased, her TSH increased, her elevated hormone levels decreased, and over time her thyroid health completely returned to normal.
The traditional medical system offered her two forms of treatment: radiate the thyroid with radioactive iodine (in effect killing the thyroid), or total removal of the thyroid followed by a lifelong prescription of thyroid medication. While this approach may have quickly “dealt with” her symptoms, it would have drastically affected all other systems in her body (as the thyroid affects all other systems) and set her up for potentially catastrophic results.
As is our approach with every condition, The Wellness Way doesn’t intend to manipulate the body but rather restore normal function to the body through whole-body testing, analysis, and support.
Remember, thyroid issues are immune issues and they must be addressed as such.
Other Thyroid Issue Triggers:
- Fluoride: Fluoride can bind to the same receptor sites as iodine, making it very likely to cause thyroid interference. Teflon-coated nonstick pans, Prozac, Paxil, some other SSRI medications, antacids, antibiotics, and antihistamines all contain fluoride. Wineries use fluoride-based pesticides on their vineyards. Some psychiatric medications use fluoride to alter the mechanical function of the brain. Is it any wonder that fluoride use can alter the function of the thyroid as well?
- Bromine: found in soft drinks, medications, bread, fire retardants, and hot tubs/pools
- Chlorine: drinking water, house water, and swimming pools
- Mercury: found in amalgam fillings. Mercury causes cell destruction. Research shows that a lot of mercury can be found in the thyroid, which can trigger thyroiditis.
- Viruses
- Infection
- Trauma
- Radiation
- Medications
- Leaky gut
- Cadmium and lead
- Pesticides
- Vitamin/mineral deficiencies
Antigenic Vaccines
Dr. Patrick Flynn closes the show with analysis of a study titled, “First case of postmortem study in a patient vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2” in combination with information from the CDC. His analysis illustrates that mRNA vaccines have the potential to be recognized by the body as antigens and therefore can contribute to the destruction of organs. The mRNA vaccines turn cells into antigens, which is particularly dangerous and could lead to a large development of autoimmune diseases among the vaccinated population.
Click here to watch this episode of A Different Perspective!
