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Thyroid disorder Part I – It might be your Thyroid

Sarah Campeau    Causes and Types of Hair Loss, Thyroid Conditions    

This is the first of a series of posts about thyroid conditions that we are going to post in the upcoming days. I can’t stress enough how important it is for everyone that is suffering from hair loss to properly evaluate their thyroid before starting any hair loss treatment.

In Part II we will explain exactly what we mean by a “proper evaluation”. It might surprise you to learn how badly most physicians tend to diagnose thyroid diseases, so our next post will focus on helping everyone get an accurate diagnosis.

I think I can safely say that half of the patients that consult us have an underlying thyroid condition that is causing their hair loss. One of the things that always surprised me through my practice is that most people think that thyroid conditions are exclusive to Women. While there is a prevalence of these conditions among Women, the fact of the matter is that most Men are not diagnosed at all, leaving millions of untreated conditions that eventually lead to other problems that camouflage the root of the issue.

Four in every 10 patients that we treat suffers from an undiagnosed thyroid disorder. It’s an astounding figure, but not very surprising.

When a patient suffers from hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism, the entire metabolic system is compromised; the organism focuses on maintaining the essential organs functioning at an estimated reasonably efficient level, and disregards “unnecessary” bodily functions. As you might have guessed by now, hair and nails are not exactly critical to survival.

There is a reason why nails become brittle and weak, and a reason why hair becomes thinner and the growth process compromised when the thyroid is not working properly.

A recurring question is also the relation between Thyroid conditions and auto-immune disorders like Alopecia. In some instances an overly strained immune system will trigger dormant conditions that otherwise might not have become active. One of the most frequent questions that I get is why Male Pattern Baldness would be linked to Thyroid disorders since it’s mainly caused by a genetic predisposition. Well, most cancers are also a result of a genetic predisposition origin. Almost everyone has had a father of a mother who were diagnosed a type of cancer, but that does not necessarily mean it will be passed along. The disposition might be there, but if it’s not triggered by an external factor it will not be a problem.

An immune system that is strained and on “survival mode” will stop all enabled preventive internal processes, leading to the emergence of all these conditions. The solution to the problem is not treating the symptoms or the derivative conditions. Going after the main cause that constitutes the root of all these imbalances is the way to go.

On the next chapter we will help you get an accurate diagnose on your thyroid.

P.s. A question that might be in everyone’s mind is if Aestressin-B would be beneficial to Thyroid patient; the simple answer is YES. This topic will be discussed on chapter V of these series.

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7 Comments to “Thyroid disorder Part I – It might be your Thyroid”

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  Kenny August 29, 2011 at 10:51 pm

  Since reading this post I have been doing a lot of reading on thyroid disorders and testing. It seems to me that the best possible tests you can get are saliva tests, but for some reason they have done away with these because of doctors advocating for blood tests b/c they think they are better for some reason (probably b/c saliva tests can be done at home and not at doctors office). Anyways, supposedly still very accurate are blood spot (capillary from a finger prick) tests. There is a website Canaryclub.org that is free to join and provides users with tests kit at substantial discounts($100 or more from what I have seen). I myself think I have a decent amount of symptoms, cold hands/feet ESPECIALLY when its even somewhat cool outside, sweaty palms, hard time gaining weight, trouble concentrating, etc. etc. So I am so glad you all are writing about the thyroid issue and I can’t wait for your other posts to come out because I am wanting to go ahead and order a home testing kit but waiting on your part II (Getting a proper Diagnosis) before I order one. We can’t thank you enough!
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  Alex August 31, 2011 at 9:04 am

  Sarah, thanks for sharing,

  I completed my blood tests recently and, suffering from mild MPB (N3 at 31 yrs), I specifically asked for my cortisol and TSH levels. My levels are not above limits, however very close to borderline.

  Be also aware that labs have different “within limits” standards. For example my TSH value was diagnosed with 4.0 and the lab high-borderline was actually 5.5 microUI/ml. Therefore doctors told me that I was within limits and not to worry. However, when I checked on the internet myself, the agreed AACE max threshold from 2003 onward is actually 3.0 microUI/ml. You can look up yourself for normal TSH levels, there are plenty of sites with this info. This means that my thyroid is under-active (hypothyroid) and I do actually have all symptoms…incl hair loss. Why the labs are not highlighting this up? Well, of course that a 4.0 TSH level won’t kill you and obviously this is considered as a mild form of hypothyroid. Second…some labs are not well informed and the information is not spreading as fast as one would believe so.

  My cortisol level is almost borderline high (21 vs 23 threshold). What I do not fully understand is how come an under-active thyroid can be linked with high cortisol levels. My understanding is that (normally) it should be the opposite, but this just highlights that the hormones are totally out of whack.

  I just wanted to share my story and stress the importance of these hormonal disorders in the MPB. I am more convinced now that an elevated DHT is actually a consequence of other hormonal disorders and not the core of the MPB problem…what 5a-reductase inhibitors are doing is just working at the end of our problem BUT not at the root. So as long as we do not focus on the key culprits, we will never find a way to cure or reverse the hair loss. Obviously this is not what pharmaceutical companies want…but this is a different story and I am entering in a political debate. I only hope and pray that Astressing-B will address this issue.

  Keep us updated Sarah.
  Regards, Alex
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  Mario September 10, 2011 at 9:08 pm

  I found this article very beneficial. Please continue to add more information and continue on to article II.
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  Kenny September 12, 2011 at 4:14 am

  Hello Sarah, I am getting my throid levels checks by a couple of different physicians this week but am really wanting to hear more about getting a proper diagnosis! Any idea when part II will be posted? Also, just wanted to ask another quick question, I have been taking my basal body temperature for the past few days now and it has been under 96 and even as low as 95.2 one time. Does this sound like something a malfunctioning thyroid could cause as I feel 95 is a Verrrry low temp? Thanks for your time!
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  Sarah Campeau September 19, 2011 at 12:46 am

  Kenny: You are right, the standard practice dictates that Physicians can diagnose on Blood tests alone, which is an enormous mistake. I’m assuming the saliva tests you are referring to are related to Cortisol, more specifically the Cortisol / DHEA Saliva Test, which is a fundamental step to get a proper diagnose. Let me know if you have proceeded with the test and if you need further information/help to get yourself diagnosed.
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  Sarah Campeau September 19, 2011 at 12:51 am

  Alex, I have forwarded some of your questions a colleague, expect a reply tomorrow.

  Kenny: haven’t forgotten about you either.

  Mario: Thank you, should be up by tomorrow.
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  Alex September 22, 2011 at 11:37 am

  Thanks Sarah,

  As always, we are more than happy to know that a great team is working on these issues.