Thyroid Antibodies
The thyroid is a butterfly shaped organ sitting around the trachea right over the collarbones. When healthy, it should not be able to be palpated on physical exam.
Unfortunately, the thyroid can struggle to stay healthy at times. It can grow nodules (97% which are benign), can develop cancer, and can either under produce thyroid hormones (hypothyroidism) or over produce thyroid hormones (hyperthyroidism).
One of the most common causes of hypothyroidism is an auto-immune condition called Hashimoto's Thyroiditis AKA goitreous lymphocytic thyroiditis. Dr. Hakaru Hashimoto was a Japanese physician. He is best known in a 1912 report for describing the condition that later took his name.
Grave's disease, one of the most common causes of hyperthyroidism, is also named after a physician. In 1835 Dr. Robert Graves published a medical article on female patients he'd observed with a specific thyroid condition. That condition later also became associated with his name.
In both of these conditions for some reason a person's immune system becomes confused and starts attacking their thyroid gland. Three parts of the thyroid gland can be attacked and we can measure the antibodies the immune system makes against them.
Here are the antibodies made in Hashimoto's thyroiditis:
Thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO): the immune system is attacking the enzyme which attaches iodine to the core thyroid molecule.
Thyroid globulin antibody (ATA): the immune system is attacking the core molecule upon which the thyroid hormone is made.
If either of those are significantly damaged, the thyroid may not be able to produce any thyroid hormone, causing hypothyroidism, and a person will usually need to given thyroid hormone as a prescription replacement. It is very important for your physician to always measure both of those antibodies. For some unknown reason Dr. Morstein has noticed that many physician just measure the TPO. This is unfortunate as you can have a normal TPO but an elevated ATA, thus missing the diagnosis of Hashimoto's.
These are common symptoms of low thyroid functioning: hair loss, fatigue/loss of energy, water retention, weight gain, changes in menstruation, feeling cold, constipation, dry skin, muscle weakness.
Here is the antibody measured in Grave's disease:
Thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin (TSI): the immune system attacks the receptor for TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone, the hormone the pituitary secretes to signal the thyroid to produce its hormones. When the immune system attacks this receptor, the thyroid is constantly stimulated to produce its hormone, secreting too much.
These are common symptoms of hyperthyroidism: warmth, agitation, heart palpitations and irregular beats, weight loss, nervousness, anxiety, increased appetite.
Aside from damaging the thyroid, elevated antibodies can also unfortunately lead to developing another auto-immune condition. Hashimoto's thyroiditis, for example, is also associated with patients developing Type 1 diabetes and Celiac disease. If the immune system is overactive against one area of the body, the confusion can continue and it can then attack a whole different area. This is why it's very important to establish a comprehensive protocol when you have any auto-immune disease, including the thyroid ones.
First, we need to find the reason the auto-immunity developing in the first place. It's key to remove any known irritants to the immune system. Per patient this might entail doing a diet diary (well, that is done by every patient!), a food sensitivity test, stool analysis or analysis for leaky gut, environmental toxin (heavy metal, chemical and mold) analysis and anything else that might be pertinent to each individual.
Then nutrition needs to be maximized and appropriate supplementation needs to occur to support the healing capacity of the body.
Another vital aspect is to address the elevated antibodies and work to reducing them as much as possible, settling down the immune system to both help the thyroid and help prevent the development of any other auto-immune disease.
The best way to reduce elevated antibodies is through prescribing low dose naltrexone.
Naltrexone is an opium antagonist and is used by first responders to save the lives of all those unfortunate people addicted to opioids and who suffer an overdose. The dose for that medical use is 50 mg. A medical doctor, Dr. Bernard Bihari in the late 1980s started using low dose naltrexone (LDN) to help the struggling immune systems in HIV/AIDS patients.
LDN typical dosing is 0.5-5.0 mg/day and is used in many auto-immune conditions, as well as a minor prokinetic in patients with SIBO. It has the ability to help balance the immune system out of auto-immunity back to normal immunity. In a very simplistic explanation, T helper 1 cells are more associated with auto-immunity and T helper 2 cells are more associated with allergies. When in balance, a person has neither auto-immune or allergic conditions, but if Th1 is high, LDN can help bring it back down into balance.In doing this it does not reduce the capacity of the immune system to fight off colds or flus or cancer.
LDN can also be considered anti-inflammatory. It’s a great addition to many auto-immune and inflammatory conditions.
Contact Dr. Morstein to learn more: 480-833-0302 and Info@nevyhealth.com