Posted on January 16th, 2009 by Craig Maltby, Editor
Oprah’s thyroid: Could immune balance make a difference?
Hypo or Hyper for Harpo?
The site Natural News has a lengthy piece on Oprah’s much publicized weight gain and the attribution to a thyroid condition.
Contained in the article is a passage highlighting immune cell function pertaining to thyroid antibody production, and how that could contribute to thyroid health. Here’s the excerpt (boldface is mine):
“Classic hypothyroid is reflected by elevated TSH (meaning excessive orders to make thyroid hormone) and low levels of T4 and T3 (meaning not enough hormones are being made and/or activated). Thyroid autoantibodies are made by immune cells that have infiltrated an inflamed thyroid gland, and have started to react against thyroid tissue. This can cause T4 hormone to not be made at the proper rate (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis) or the antibodies can also take on the function of thyroid-hormone-producing cells and begin secreting excess thyroid hormone on their own (which is one way to cause hyperthyroid or Graves’ disease). Thus, thyroid autoantibodies are a wild card in the equation and can cause thyroid hormone production to go either in the hypo or hyper direction.”
So, might an immune system that’s out of balance be a contributing factor to this condition? Any immune health experts out there want to weigh in (pardon the pun) on this one?
