The Role of the Thyroid in the Hormonal System

[Guest guest]

http://www.nice2people.com/sellman/hormone-heresy1.htm

 

Links to parts 2-4 below on above url

 

Part 1: The Role of the Thyroid in the Hormonal System

 

Exploring the Hormone Heresy: An Interview with Women's Health Advocate

Sherrill Sellman

 

by Mary J. Shomon

 

Sherrill Sellman is psychotherapist and health researcher and writer. She is

author of " The Hormone Heresy: What Women MUST Know About Their Hormones. "

Mary Shomon: First, I want to thank you Sherrill, for taking the time to

share your knowledge about women's hormonal medicine. Can you tell us a

little about your background, and how you've become a women's health

advocate and educator in the area of hormonal health?

 

Sherrill Sellman: Thank you Mary for the chance to share my many years of

research with your rs. It's through people, like yourself who are

totally committed to investigating and sharing the most truthful health

information as well as the many safe and effective options, that enables all

of us to be truly empowered and informed decision makers.

 

I have been trained as a psychotherapist specializing in mind-body

approaches for the past twenty years. I also had a very successful Human

Resource and Development company that facilitated personal development and

stress management programs for both the corporate and public sectors. Until

a year and a half ago, I was living and working in Melbourne, Australia

where I have resided for the last 18 years. I'm now enjoying life as an

Oklahoman!!

 

Around the age of 45, I began to be plagued by a number of rather

debilitating symptoms. I would have gripping anxiety attacks every night at

about 3 am . As a psychotherapist, I assumed they had some psychological

cause, but no amount of therapy resolved them. I also experienced mood

swings (what seemed like a lifetime affliction), fatigue, weight gain, low

libido and the appearance of those dark little hairs that began peeking out

from my chin!!! But it wasn't until the night sweats appeared on the scene

that I suddenly had to start thinking " hormones " . I would wake up most

nights perspiring profusely.

 

In my need to find solutions to these perimenopausal symptoms, I came across

information about natural progesterone, a transdermal cream that has the

bio-identical molecular structure as the progesterone made in our bodies. I

decided to give it a try. And, lo and behold, after just one month, the

night sweats vanished....along with the anxiety attacks, mood swings, excess

weight, fatigue, low libido and after about 4 months even those unsightly

dark hairs disappeared!!! Well, needless to say, this really got my

attention and I began to delve into the world of female physiology,

menopause and hormone replacement therapy...subjects that I had been rather

ignorant about. After my initial confusion from all the seemingly

conflicting information about hormones and menopause, the picture that

emerged from my research revealed the dark side of steroid hormone use. What

I learned about the many myths, misinformation, and dangers concerning the

use of steroid hormone treatments as found in HRT, the Pill and even

fertility drugs, so alarmed and outraged me, that I was compelled to share

my research with other women. My book " Hormone Heresy: What Women MUST Know

About Their Hormones " was borne out of that journey and my passion for

empowering women with truthful information was kindled.

 

Hormone Heresy has now become a best selling book in Australia, Canada and

is also presently doing really well in the US. I have returned to the States

to live and now travel extensively throughout the US and Canada, presenting

lectures and seminars to women of all ages, informing them what they really

MUST know about their hormones...which is a very different message from what

we're told my our doctors, pharmacists and media!!!

 

Mary Shomon: It seems that only in the past year or so has there been more

attention paid to the thyroid as a critical hormone for women's health.

Previously, most of the focus was on estrogen and progesterone. Why do you

think the thyroid has been so overlooked, but now seems to be gaining some

attention?

 

Sherrill Sellman: Medicine, like all other facets of our culture, goes

through fads at which time one theory has its heyday...only to be replaced

by another in vogue hypothesis! It appears that the focus on the thyroid was

eclipsed as the spotlight was moved to the new rising steroid hormone stars,

estrogen and progestins which appeared on the medical scene in 1960's.

 

From my years of delving into me realm of hormone imbalances, what has

become most evident is that women's hormone imbalances and their health

issues, in general, have become big business. With the trend in the past 40

or so years for medicine to specialize and rely almost exclusively on

pharmaceutical drugs, the various symptoms that were once easily recognized

as classical thyroid imbalances have been assigned as separate conditions.

So we now have drugs that treat depression, infertility, high cholesterol,

weight gain, migraines, fatigue and menstrual irregularities.

 

We also know that the traditional blood tests for thyroid are inadequate and

inaccurate. With the very recent development of saliva testing for thyroid

function, a more comprehensive picture of the rather complicated endocrine

system is emerging.

 

The history of medicine has ignored women's unique physiology. The

misogynist bias in medicine had assumed the female functioning was a

duplicate of male physiology. Since the female's monthly hormonal cycling

made them unfit for controlled experiments, most all of the studies until

recently were done on men and then extrapolated for women. Even the early

studies exploring estrogen and heart disease (another incorrect hypothesis)

were initially done on men! Fortunately this is changing and it is now

acknowledged that women's bodies function in some significantly different

ways from men. It seems that throughout history, women's hormonal nature has

always been somewhat of a mystery to medical science. And I must say, that

with most traditional medical doctors, it still is!

 

The emerging holistic paradigm has a clinical model based on finding the

root cause of imbalance which is a much more feminine approach to healing,

not just symptom suppression as focused on in allopathic medicine. The

holistic model recognizes the existence of the intimate connection of all of

the body's processes. This paradigm along with new diagnostic techniques,

has developed a more sophisticated understanding of endocrine functioning,

in general, and the thyroid, in particular.

 

Mary Shomon: What importance do you think the thyroid has, in terms of a

woman's overall hormonal health?

 

Sherrill Sellman: The thyroid is a major player when it comes to hormonal

health since it stimulates and synchronizes all metabolic cellular

functions. All tissues in the body are stimulated by the thyroid.

 

The thyroid hormone is required to convert cholesterol into the vital

anti-aging steroid hormones, pregnenolone, progesterone, and DHEA.

Pregnenolone converts to progesterone and DHEA in the body. Progesterone and

DHEA are precursors for more specialized hormones, including estrogen,

testosterone, and cortisol.

 

As we know, thyroid disorders are more common in women than men. In women,

adequate binding of T3 is dependent upon sufficient progesterone. A low

level of progesterone is a common experience in both young and older women.

According to research by Dr. Jerilynn Prior, an endocrinologist from

Vancouver, BC, more than 25% of women in their 20's are not ovulating each

month. This anovulatory pattern means they are not producing adequate

progesterone each month, leading to progesterone deficiency. This is also a

similar condition that occurs for perimenopausal women. The major cause of

these anovulatory cycles include an poor diet, nutritional deficiencies,

skipping meals, emotional and physical stress, and over-exercising.

 

Thus, low progesterone levels in young women interferes with thyroid

efficiency and is also one of the most frequent causes of infertility. One

study showed that 94% of women with PMS were hypothyroid. Progesterone

deficiency in perimenopause or menopausal years can predispose a woman to

hypothyroidism during this time of her life.

 

Estrogen dominance -- an excess of estrogen in relation to progesterone--

inhibits thyroid function and can result from taking birth control pills,

hormone replacement therapy, or exposure to environmental estrogens. Also, a

poorly functioning liver, exhausted adrenal glands, insulin resistance,

compromised digestion and candida can also contribute to estrogen dominance.

 

What is often misunderstood when we talk about the hormones estrogen and

progesterone is the fact that they aren't just about overseeing

reproduction. There are, in fact, receptor sites for both these hormones in

every cell throughout the body. Thus the immune system, the nervous system,

the circulatory system, the digestive system the vascular system, the

respiratory system all are effected my the flow and proper balance between

these two hormones.

 

A healthy thyroid is intimately linked to a balanced endocrine system. The

health of the endocrine system will reflect our overall health.

 

Part 2: The Role of the Thyroid in the Hormonal System

Part 2: The Myths and Realities About Osteoporosis

Part 3: Too Much Estrogen, Not Enough Progesterone?

Part 4: How to Take Estrogen / Progesterone, The Soy Issue

 

 

Reprinted with Permission of Sherrill Sellman