Health Conditions

Selenium – The missing link for treating hypothyroidism?

February 3, 2012 in Food & Nutrition, Immunity, Thyroid Disorders | 46 comments

A healthy thyroid is a critical component of one’s overall health, and many people are struggling with thyroid disorders such as hypothyroidism, specifically Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroiditis. In this autoimmune condition, the immune system attacks the thyroid gland, with the resulting inflammation leading to an underactive thyroid gland or hypothyroidism. Hashimoto’s disease is the most common form of hypothyroidism and was the first condition ever to be classified as an autoimmune disease. I’ve written extensively about thyroid health, ...
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Is GERD an autoimmune disease?

January 19, 2012 in GERD | 58 comments

GERD is an extremely common problem in the U.S.. 44% of Americans suffer from it at least once a month, and 20% suffer from it weekly. (1) Drug companies make $7 billion a year selling acid suppressing drugs - primarily proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) like Prilosec and Aciphex. The popularity of these drugs is predicated on the idea that GERD is caused by stomach acid burning the esophagus. This is known as the "chemical burn" ...
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Why you should eat more (not less) cholesterol

January 6, 2012 in Food & Nutrition, Heart Disease | 113 comments

For decades now, the general American population has been neurotically avoiding cholesterol-rich foods for fear of developing heart disease, thanks to the promulgation of the unfortunate Diet-Heart hypothesis. (1) Those of us that follow a paleo diet are well aware by now that dietary cholesterol does not significantly affect cholesterol levels in the blood or risk for heart disease, and that there is no reason to avoid whole foods with naturally high levels of cholesterol. However, beyond ...
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Low T3 syndrome V: should it be treated with thyroid hormone?

November 22, 2011 in Thyroid Disorders | 39 comments

In this final article in the series on Low T3 Syndrome, we'll discuss whether thyroid hormone replacement therapy is an appropriate treatment in these cases. Unfortunately, there are few studies that have examined this question specifically, and even fewer that have explored the question of whether T4 or T3 (and which type of each) would be the best choice. As a clinician, my primary concern is always primum non nocere, or "first, do no harm." From this perspective ...
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