Download Thyroid Australia (Brisbane)

Supplementary and Alternative Medicines.
WARNING: The modern therapies would never have been considered if the old remedies had worked.
Many of these alternative medicines have made the popularity charts and best seller lists and are commonly believed
to perform all sorts of miracles. When properly prepared these bits and pieces of plants do some of the things they
are advertised to.
In addition it seems appropriate to question the wisdom of ingesting thousands of compounds simply to get a couple of
effective ones. It also bears mentioning that dietary supplement, cosmetics and herbal concoctions are not required to
meet the standards of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The quality of supplements is up to the manufacturer
and not all of them are honourable or even careful. Batches of herbs are often imported from third world countries
where they may have been grown or harvested in questionable surroundings and treated with unknown chemicals.
Scientific studies done on these herbal supplements have shown a wide variability in the potency and content from
manufacturer to manufacturer and from batch to batch. There fore claims made on packaging and medical herbs may
be advertising slogans and should be treated with diligence.
There are no herbal or other alternative therapies that will 'cure' Hashimoto's or rebuild the thyroid or rebuild
thyroid function (except small amounts of iodine in the case of iodine deficiency). Any therapies that promise any of
these things are simply rubbish and are potentially dangerous. The only efficacious therapy for autoimmune thyroid
failure is thyroid hormone replacement. This can be by either synthetic or natural hormone. None of these hormones
is produced in plants so there are no herbal remedies for this condition. The natural hormone must be obtained as an
extract from the thyroid of some animal.
The natural development of autoimmune thyroid failure is such that the sufferers go through cycles from normal to
hyper to hypo and back again. In this developing situation, anything can produce what looks like a cure because the
person will get better - for a while - simply because that is what happens naturally.
Autoimmune thyroid over activity (Graves') is a little different. Some 20% of sufferers will simply recover if left to
themselves. The autoimmunity recedes by itself. These people can be miraculously cured by almost anything that
doesn't actually kill them. There are also a number of herbs and plant substances that interfere with some aspect of
thyroid function. These substances therefore can reduce the severity of the problem and in mild cases can probably
bring the condition under some control.
*Massive doses of iodine, for instance, will shut the thyroid down for a short period.
*Chlorate interferes with iodine uptake and can therefore limit the over activity.
*Iso-thio-cyanate in plants like cassava, ( see information on goitrogens) interferes with the organification of iodine
and can also help to limit over activity.
The problems are that these goitrogenic substances are not available in controlled doses and they are of only limited
effect. They therefore will not solve the problem for people with rampant Graves'. These people need antithyroid
drugs and probably radio iodine or surgery if they are to survive.
Homeopathy is of no use at all in treating thyroid conditions. Thyroid building compounds and diets are of no use at all.
The vast majority of the herbal and related remedies that are now promoted were the foundation of the medical
treatment of thyroid disease in the past. They have fallen by the wayside because they do not work or do not work as
well as the current mainstream therapies.
Alun Stevens MSC FIAA
DISCLAIMER:
All material supplied by Thyroid Australia (Brisbane) is for information purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.
For medical advice please see a Doctor.