If you are one of the millions of people who suffer from a thyroid condition, functional medicine may be able to help. Functional medicine is a holistic approach to medicine that focuses on identifying and treating the root cause of your illness, rather than just treating the symptoms. There are three ways functional medicine can help improve thyroid conditions: by restoring balance in the body, addressing nutritional deficiencies, and by helping to resolve underlying emotional issues.
How does Your Thyroid work?
The thyroid gland is the body’s power generator. It sends energy to every cell in your system through hormones it produces, which control how fast you burn calories and help with metabolism regulation- all while managing overall health! This process begins when information about necessary nutrients enters our brain viac certain nerves (the ” Watkins vines.”); then those signals are sent out from here along regulatory fibers called “ neurofibrils .
When the hypothalamus detects that you are not getting enough food or water, it sends out Thyroid Releasing Hormone (TRH) to your pituitary gland. The TRH tells the thyroid how much energy levels need improvement by telling them about low blood sugar and other critical conditions in order for proper hormone production which can lead directly to producing more thyroxine hormones using an amino acid called tyrosine with just one iodine atom attached at a time depending upon what type of medication they will be taking as well if any.
There are three main types of functional thyroid medication:
In order to find the right medication, you should work with your doctor and keep track of lab results. But here are the common three main types of functional thyroid medication.
Thyroid Hormone Replacement Therapy
Thyroid hormone replacement therapy is the use of manmade thyroid hormones to raise abnormally low levels in an individual’s body. The most commonly prescribed type, pure synthetic thyroxine (T4) can be taken as pills or drops; it often helps treat an underactive thyroid.
TSH suppression therapy is the use of thyroid hormone medication to lower excessively high levels of TSH in an individual’s body. This can often help manage symptoms related to Grave’s disease, such as goiters, bulging eyes, and anxiety.
Radioactive Iodine
Radioactive iodine therapy can help people live longer if they have papillary or follicular thyroid cancer (differentiated), which has spread to the neck and other parts of their bodies. But benefits are less clear for individuals with small cancers that do not seem like they’ve gotten far into surrounding tissue – these types often come out completely via surgery! You should discuss risks vs rewards before deciding whether radio nuclide treatment might be right for you; there isn’t enough research yet on its use in this situation though so until further studies are done, surgery is still the best option for most people.
If you have Graves’ disease or a toxic nodular goiter (the two main types of hyperthyroidism), functional medicine can help by addressing the underlying causes and not just the symptoms. This holistic approach uses dietary changes, supplements, and stress reduction techniques to promote balance in the body and alleviate symptoms. While medications can be helpful in some cases, they don’t always address the root cause of the problem and can come with a host of side effects. functional medicine provides a more comprehensive way to improve thyroid function and overall health.
Functional Supplements
Functional supplements have new or added ingredients that improve health. They’re categorized as food in some countries, whereas they can be drugs and natural products too! The term “functional foods” refers to these kinds of supplements with enhanced functions that result from improved nutrition qualifications like increased energy levels for example. Functional foods are designed to target a specific area of health, and they’re often used as part of a preventative approach to wellness.
When it comes to thyroid health, functional supplements can help in three big ways:
- First, they can help improve your digestion which is essential since so many people with thyroid conditions have digestive issues. Digestion is key to the absorption of nutrients, so functional supplements that aid in digestion can be game-changers.
- Second, functional supplements can provide the nutrients you need for healthy thyroid function. This includes things like iodine, selenium, zinc, and omega-three fatty acids. These nutrients are essential for the production of thyroid hormones and for keeping everything in balance.
- Third, functional supplements can help to address the underlying causes of thyroid conditions. This could be things like stress, inflammation, or gut imbalances. By addressing these underlying causes, you can often get relief from symptoms and start to feel better overall. If you’re struggling with a thyroid condition, functional medicine may be able to help.
Functional medicine can help improve thyroid conditions by restoring balance in the body, addressing nutritional deficiencies, and resolving underlying emotional issues. If you’re looking for a functional medicine doctor to help you with your thyroid condition, call us today! Our team of experts are here to help you get back on track to feeling your best.
Do You Need a Functional Medical Clinic You Can Trust?
As you know Functional Medicine asks how and why illness occurs and restores health by addressing the root causes of disease for each individual. Our goal for all of our patients at Hope for Healing is to optimize whole health, wellness, immunity, and longevity and find and fix the root problems permanently. All of our licensed medical providers have been trained by the Institute for Functional Medicine (ifm.org) and work collaboratively as part of the provider team under the leadership and direction of Paula Kruppstadt MD DABP FAAP IFMCP. We are trained to listen to our patients and take the time to do an appropriate root-cause analysis to find and implement permanent solutions together. If this sounds like we’d be the right fit for you, contact us today at (281) 725-6767!
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