Hyperthyroidism, referred to as hyperthyroidism, is a metabolic disease caused by the increase of thyroid hormones in the circulating blood caused by the thyroid gland itself or by various causes other than the thyroid gland, which then acts on the tissues and organs of the whole body, resulting in increased excitability and hyper-metabolism of the nervous, circulatory and digestive systems of the body. -Hyperthyroidism is a metabolic disease caused by the hyperexcitability of the thyroid gland. In modern Western medicine, the cause of hyperthyroidism is still unclear, but it is generally considered to be an autoimmune disease and a family history.
The main danger of hyperthyroidism is the abnormal enhancement of thyroid function and the secretion of too much thyroid hormone, resulting in a series of hypermetabolism and hyperexcitability of the body’s nervous, circulatory and digestive systems. In fact, hyperthyroidism is also a common endocrine problem, but because modern medicine does not study the cause of the disease in depth, resulting in a single treatment method, poor results, and treating the symptoms but not the root cause, that is, using various means to reduce the thyroid hormone, but in fact does not fundamentally solve the fundamental problem of the body’s internal organs function deficit, many patients still have weakness, insomnia, and poor appetite symptoms. The role of the thyroid gland is to ensure energy metabolism and growth and development in the body. Therefore, it is important to explore the causes of thyroid disease from this root cause, rather than studying the antibodies, hormonal changes and the ultimate manifestations of organ involvement that occur after the lesions.
Analysis of the pros and cons of conventional treatments for hyperthyroidism
At this stage, conventional treatments for hyperthyroidism are divided into internal antithyroid drug therapy, radioactive I131 therapy and surgery.
Anti-thyroid drug (ATD) therapy: The main principle is to use chemical drugs to block the function of iodine uptake, synthesis and release of thyroid hormone by thyroid cells, thus rapidly reducing the serum thyroid hormone. The main reason is that chemical drugs can cause liver and kidney function damage, bone marrow suppression, and also lead to goiter. Because it is an indicator but not a cure, it is also easy to relapse after stopping the medication, but for historical reasons, many hospitals still routinely use this type of treatment in their endocrinology departments.
Radioactive iodine 131 therapy: Its main principle is to use the beta rays carried by iodine 131 to kill thyroid cells, thus causing thyroid cells to die and secrete less thyroid hormone. i131 therapy also has a fast effect and does not have the numerous side effects of ATD therapy, making it an ideal treatment for all types of patients. However, the biggest problem is that it can easily cause permanent hypothyroidism, and many patients need to take medication for life. Many patients need to take medication for the rest of their lives. In China, people are often afraid of nuclear treatment and are unable to understand radiation therapy properly, which discourages many patients and delays their treatment.
Surgery: Generally, surgery is not necessary for early detection of hyperthyroidism, unless there are special circumstances, such as overly enlarged thyroid gland, compression of surrounding tissues, or combined thyroid cancer.
How do bad habits lead to hyperthyroidism?
1. Partial eating, picky eating, excessive vegetarianism and indiscriminate weight loss. Many patients do not like to eat staple foods and basic coarse grains, but like to eat a lot of vegetables or seafood, and often do not like to eat greasy. Some other patients, especially female patients, blindly lose weight in order to pursue body shape, have three irregular meals, do not eat rice and fats, and eat very little meat and vegetables. As the main nutrients of the human body are sugar, protein and fat, the insufficient intake of these three will spontaneously speed up the workload of the thyroid cells and increase the burden on the thyroid gland, and over time the natural thyroid function will not be effectively regulated, resulting in hyperthyroidism.
2. Staying up late. Nowadays, many young people like to stay up late surfing the Internet, playing games and watching Korean dramas. In fact, this is very harmful to the thyroid cells. We know that night is the time when all organs of the body are normally dormant and repairing cells. 9:00 to 11:00 is the time when thyroid cells are repairing, if you do not get a good rest at this time, the thyroid gland is still working overtime and often prone to hyperthyroidism.
3. Excessive fatigue. This fatigue is divided into two kinds of external and internal consumption, external consumption is what we usually call physical labor and exercise. This time the body consumes energy mainly from sugar and fat, if the body does not store enough glycogen and fat, it will cause hyperthyroidism. Internal consumption refers to the energy consumption caused by psychological factors. The organ that consumes the most energy in the body is the brain, and people who often perform mental work are actually prone to energy imbalance. Combined with stress and environmental factors, thyroid function can also be greatly damaged.
The metabolic abnormalities of hyperthyroidism are specifically manifested as
High caloric consumption and increased demand: Hyperthyroidism patients are afraid of heat, sweat a lot, lose weight and work less efficiently, which is caused by the significantly higher basal metabolic rate of hyperthyroidism patients.
Accelerated protein decomposition: A small amount of thyroxine can promote protein synthesis, but when too much thyroxine is secreted, protein decomposition is accelerated and excretion increases, resulting in a negative nitrogen balance and depletion of muscle tissue, leading to fatigue and weight loss in patients.
Fat consumption and low cholesterol: A large amount of thyroxine promotes fat consumption, accelerates fat oxidation and decomposition, and accelerates cholesterol synthesis, prompting the conversion of cholesterol into bile acids and excretion, increasing cholesterol utilization. Therefore, the cholesterol of hyperthyroidism patients is not high, but low.
A large amount of carbohydrates is absorbed and can easily induce diabetes: thyroxine can promote the absorption of carbohydrates in the intestine, make glucose enter the cells and be oxidized, stimulate the decomposition of liver glycogen and muscle glycogen, and accelerate glycogen isogenesis. This causes a decrease in glucose tolerance, which can easily aggravate or induce diabetes. Blood glucose in hyperthyroid patients usually has a tendency to increase, but the increase is not obvious due to accelerated oxidation.
Accelerated water and salt metabolism: large amounts of thyroxine have a diuretic effect on potassium excretion, which can promote osteoporosis, accelerated calcium and phosphorus transport rates, and increased excretion in the urine, but blood concentrations remain normal or slightly higher.
Unprecedented vitamin consumption, most prone to vitamin deficiency: Hyperthyroidism patients have high consumption of B vitamins and vitamin C, and are prone to various vitamin deficiencies.
Correcting the nutritional imbalance in the body is the fundamental treatment of hyperthyroidism
According to nutritional medicine, the main cause of hyperthyroidism is the nutritional imbalance in the body, so the treatment of this disease should go back to the source of the disease. In order to meet the body’s nutrient needs and restore the normal operation of the internal environment, the problem can be solved at the root. The main adjustment methods include the following.
1, to ensure the supply of caloric energy: caloric energy needs should be combined with the needs of clinical treatment and the amount of food eaten by the patient to determine, generally increased by 50%-70% compared to the normal, each person should supply 3000-3500 kcal per day. Avoid excessive one-time intake, increase the number of meals appropriately, in addition to the normal three meals, plus 2-3 side meals.
2. Increase the intake of macronutrients: Most hyperthyroid patients do not like to eat staple foods, so the supply of carbohydrates should be increased appropriately, usually accounting for 60%-70% of the total caloric energy; protein should be higher than normal, and can be supplied at 1.5-2.9 g/kg per day. It is not appropriate to supply more animal protein, because it has the effect of stimulating the nervous system excitement, should account for about 1/3 of the total protein; fat supply should also be increased by 20%-30% than normal people.
3, appropriate increase in minerals and vitamins: appropriate increase in the supply of minerals, especially potassium, calcium and phosphorus, etc., which are easily excreted through diarrhea causing malnutrition, should pay more attention to supplementation, more vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and vitamin C-rich food, appropriate more animal offal, fresh green leafy vegetables, it is recommended to supplement a variety of natural vitamin preparations.
4. Increase the intake of antioxidant foods: Because of the increased metabolism in the body of hyperthyroidism patients, the collection of oxidation products increases, so it is necessary to consume more foods or nutritional supplements rich in antioxidants such as vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, anthocyanins and carotenoids.
In conclusion, although the cause of hyperthyroidism is unknown in modern medicine, from the perspective of nutritional medicine and Chinese medicine, hyperthyroidism is a chronic disease caused by an imbalance of nutrients in the body that leads to disorders in the internal environment and eventually causes abnormalities in a series of metabolic functions of the body. To put it plainly, hyperthyroidism, like diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver, coronary heart disease, gout and other chronic metabolic diseases, is a chronic wasting disease caused by uneven nutritional intake and unreasonable utilization, not a difficult disease. Through a period of comprehensive treatment with diet, herbs and nutrients, it is entirely possible to get rid of chemical drugs and reach a stable state, and eventually achieve a clinical cure.