Most people with hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism consider themselves as having a “thyroid condition”. And while it is important to manage the symptoms of these people, the main reason many people with “thyroid conditions” end up taking medication for the rest of their life is because most doctors focus all of their efforts on treating the thyroid gland, which usually isn’t the cause of the actual disorder.
This is especially true with someone who has an autoimmune thyroid disorder, such as Graves’ Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. But even with other types of “thyroid conditions”, the malfunctioning gland usually is not the primary cause. And so while treating the thyroid gland with thyroid hormone, anti-thyroid drugs, or RAI might do a good job in controlling the symptoms, the underlying cause goes unaddressed, which can lead to the development of future conditions.
Why Most Medical Doctors Don’t Address The Cause
You might wonder why most medical doctors don’t do anything to address the cause of thyroid conditions. While there are some great medical doctors out there, the truth is that most medical doctors simply aren’t trained in medical school to prevent and cure conditions. For example, when someone sees a doctor due to constant digestive problems, it is quite common for them to recommend some type of prescription or over the counter drug. Sure, they might give some nutritional advice, but not much, even though just about all digestive issues can be fixed through changing one’s diet.
Of course one of the problems is that some people aren’t willing to change their habits. Some people don’t want to eat healthy most of the time, and so would prefer taking pills each day to manage any digestive problems they have. I know a lot of people who take the acid stopping medication like Prilosec on a daily basis, not realizing that there are consequences for taking these drugs each and every day.
The same concept applies with thyroid conditions, as some people obviously don’t want to cure their condition, as crazy as this may sound. While some are just plain skeptical about the effectiveness of natural treatment methods when it comes to curing their condition, others just don’t want to make the necessary sacrifices in order to restore their health back to normal. There are people who would prefer taking thyroid hormone daily, because this seems to be the easier choice. But once again, these people don’t realize that there are potential negative consequences of managing their symptoms.
Why Not Addressing The Cause Can Be Risky
While there’s nothing wrong with wanting to manage the symptoms, there are potential long-term consequences of not addressing the cause of one’s thyroid disorder. The biggest risk is that by not addressing the cause of your thyroid condition, you can develop other conditions in the future. For example, many people develop a thyroid condition due to stressed out adrenal glands.
Someone who has adrenal problems that eventually leads to a thyroid condition probably will be able to manage their symptoms through prescription drugs (although not always). But by not addressing the adrenals, there is a good chance that other conditions will develop in the future, such as insulin resistance, hormone imbalances, and even immune system problems that can lead to the development of an autoimmune thyroid condition. This is why it’s important to address the cause of the disorder.
How To Determine the Cause Of The Malfunctioning Thyroid Gland
A competent natural endocrine doctor will do more than just evaluate your blood tests, as they will look at your symptoms, case history, and other factors and then determine what other tests might be necessary to find out what is causing your thyroid gland to malfunction. Once they determine the cause they will then recommend a natural treatment protocol to help restore the normal function of your thyroid gland, when this is possible.
Some people of course can’t have their health completely restored to normal. For these people it is still important to address the cause of the condition. For example, while some people with hyperthyroidism who receive radioactive iodine therapy can have the function of their thyroid gland restored to normal, others can’t. Either way, those who can’t have their health completely restored and therefore need to take thyroid hormone on a daily basis still need to address the cause of what initially caused the hyperthyroid condition to develop in the first place.
In summary, while symptom management is important for anyone with a thyroid condition, it is also important to find out what caused the condition to develop, and then try to eliminate the cause whenever possible. This is why I constantly recommend consulting with a natural endocrine doctor to find out what’s causing your thyroid condition, rather than just assuming you have no choice but to live with it and take prescription drugs for the rest of your life.
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