Did you know Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is the most common autoimmune disorder? If affects females more than males. The most common symptoms are weight gain or difficulty losing weight, fatigue, constipation, low libido, dry skin and cold intolerance. Most cases are unfortunately not properly investigated or diagnosed.
The reason for this is most thyroid blood panels only include TSH and T4 markers. Rarely are markers run to test if the body is making antibodies against the thyroid. This is a big omission as knowing if your thyroid problem is an autoimmune disorder or not is a big deal.
A proper thyroid panel will include TSH, total T4, free T4, total T3, free T3, thyroid antibodies, thyroglobulin, iodine, lithium, selenium, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, bromine and fluorine. Anything less than this is an incomplete thyroid assessment, and many thyroid problems including Hashimoto’s are overlooked. Don’t settle for anything less than this if you suspect the thyroid is an issue for you.
We run a thyroid panel from ZRT Labs called Comprehensive Thyroid that tests all of these markers. We have picked up several cases of hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis that have been missed by other doctors. If the thyroid issue is due to an autoimmune disorder, the root cause needs to be investigated. We will cover this in our next newsletter.