When using natural treatment methods for Graves’ Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, you may wonder if such a treatment protocol can actually cure your condition, or will it just put it into a state of remission. Some people think of natural treatment methods as a “natural way” of managing the symptoms, and not actually doing anything for the disorder itself. I can tell you from experience that a genuine natural treatment protocol should do more than cover up the symptoms.
But as for whether natural treatment methods can actually cure an autoimmune thyroid condition, you first must understand what the difference is between a cure and a state of remission. Most of us are familiar with cancer being in remission, and we understand cancer in remission as not actually being cured, but is under control and in a “hidden” state. In other words, someone who is in remission from a certain type of cancer still supposedly has the cancer, but the disease is not in its active form.
This situation actually applies to a friend of mine, who was diagnosed with a form of leukemia a number of years ago. He took a new type of medication, and it not only controlled his symptoms, but over the last few years his leukemia has no longer been detectable on the blood tests. Although the doctors won’t label him as being cured, he has been told that he is in a state of remission. To put it another way, if he were to walk into another doctor’s office who didn’t know he was diagnosed with leukemia, they most likely wouldn’t be able to tell he had such a condition, as all of the tests would come out negative.
Let’s look at another example. When someone has low back pain due to a pinched nerve and gets the problem resolved by a chiropractor, is that person cured? Obviously this depends upon a number of different factors. But even if they are in fact “cured”, one can’t argue that this person can have a “relapse” if they do the same things which originally caused the pinched nerve in the first place. So if the pinched nerve was caused by lifting something heavy combined with poor lifting techniques, there is a good chance the low back condition will “flare up” again if the person were to go back to this way of lifting.
When you think about it then, a cure really isn’t too much different from a state of remission. I’m not suggesting that there aren’t conditions that can’t be completely cured. But the fact is that most conditions have a cause, and this includes cancer, diabetes, neck and back pain, digestive problems, migraines, autoimmune thyroid disorders, etc.
How about genetics? Genetics no doubt is a factor, but many times these conditions are caused by external factors. While genetics may make someone more susceptible to getting these conditions, often times these conditions can be prevented. After all, twin studies show that if one identical twin has an autoimmune condition such as Graves’ Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, the other twin only has a 30% chance of developing the same condition, even though they both have the same genetic markers for the condition. However, when someone with one of these conditions is “cured” or goes into a state of remission, if they continue to live the same lifestyle they did before the condition originally developed, then there is an excellent chance that a relapse will occur.
I personally believe that if I lived the lifestyle that I do now I could have prevented Graves’ Disease from developing. And while I would like to think that my condition is permanently cured, I believe if I went back to my previous lifestyle that there is a decent chance it would return. So when someone asks me if natural treatment methods can permanently cure Graves’ Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, the answer is not so simple.
Assuming the person with an autoimmune thyroid disorder is a candidate for natural treatment methods and it helps restore their health back to normal, if they go back to their previous lifestyle then there is a chance it will return. This isn’t a guarantee, but I’d hate to deceive anybody and tell them that natural treatment methods will permanently cure their condition, because if you don’t maintain your health, then over time there is a good chance that the same factor, or perhaps a different factor will trigger the autoimmune response and cause a relapse to occur. Or sometimes the same disorder won’t return, but the person will develop another chronic health condition.
I’m starting to sound like a broken record, and so I’ll wrap this up by saying that for many people, natural treatment methods can completely restore their health back to normal, and these people can MAINTAIN their state of health thereafter if they are willing to change their lifestyle while on the protocol, as well as after the protocol is completed. This doesn’t mean you will need to live a perfect lifestyle, but you will need to continue to take responsibility for your health. If you’re willing to do this then there is an excellent chance that you can restore your health back to normal and put your condition into a permanent state of remission.