But Doctor, I'm Telling the Truth, Part 3

Is Your Thyroid Making You Fat?
by Sanford Siegal, D.O., M.D.

(Page 3 of 3)

For whatever reason, and the reason is often the laboratory, many physicians seem to go off in other directions when patients present themselves with the characteristic signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism. An October 1996 article in McCall's magazine, “The Disease Doctors Miss,” did a good job of explaining this phenomenon. It listed many of the symptoms that accompany hypothyroidism, and it was an appeal to the reader to prod her doctor into delving into the problem. This book has essentially the same general purpose, but it also invites you, the reader, and perhaps the victim, to take a very active role in determining whether you have a metabolic or thyroid problem.

Doctors particularly seem to ignore the patient's weight as a significant sign of hypothyroidism. This is probably because of the general tendency of the literature to downplay metabolic problems as the cause of obesity.

Of the many systems I could use to categorize my overweight patients, the simplest would place each of them in one of two categories:

1. Those who eat too much.

2. Those who don't eat too much.

As simple as that sounds, it isn't. In a sense, they all eat too much. But too much for what? The answer is too much for one's body to maintain its weight. One patient might think she eats only one-third the calories her best friend eats, but it is still too much because she's overweight and her friend isn't. If the standard by which “too much” is to be judged is the amount necessary not to create obesity, then everyone who is obese eats too much.

But “too much” may not be that much at all. I'm sure you know that each of us requires a somewhat different amount of food to maintain our respective weights. In some instances the variations among us are impressive. That is the essence of the differences in metabolism among various individuals of similar size. We do seem to burn up our calories at different rates.

When the body fails to burn sufficient calories, I choose to define that condition as hypothyroidism. The trouble is that no one has yet invented a simple gauge that we can attach to ourselves that will read out how many calories we're burning at a particular moment. Until such a device comes along, we're forced to infer how many calories we burn from some rather unreliable tables.

The questions of how many calories we need, how many we eat and how many we should eat, how many calories we burn and how many we should burn, have occupied me for a long time. When I find someone who is out of kilter with what should be, I know I'm dealing with a thyroid problem.

The thyroid gland is located in the front of your neck below your Adam's apple, and normally it takes very trained fingers to feel it. If you do feel it easily, or, more important, if your doctor feels it, it could mean that there's a problem there. If it is readily felt, then it is probably enlarged, and that could mean one of various abnormalities. If what your doctor feels are lumps or nodules, it is mandatory that you undergo further studies. But that isn't the subject of this book. A generally enlarged thyroid gland could mean an underactive thyroid gland. Let's leave it at that.

This little gland is terribly important to your welfare. Let's examine what it does and what happens when it doesn't do what it is supposed to do.

Since the thyroid gland supplies a couple of hormones that regulate our metabolic processes, abnormalities of the gland's function are present with both overproduction of the hormones and underproduction. What is interesting and yet troublesome is that some of the symptoms of both conditions can be remarkably similar. Fortunately other symptoms aren't, and that tends to differentiate clearly between the two. We generally speak of overproduction of hormones as producing hyperthyroidism, a serious condition where bodily processes are speeded up. The typical hyperthyroid individual is the nervous irritable individual who seems “keyed up.” Everything from eye problems to severe heart problems may accompany hyperthyroidism. The hyperthyroid sufferer is generally not overweight, and we shall not delve further into that condition.

Of course, there are a number of other diseases of the thyroid gland. There are what are known as autoimmune diseases, where one's own body attacks itself, and in this case the attack is on one's own thyroid gland. One of these is Graves' disease, a condition that got a lot of press when it was revealed that both President Bush and Mrs. Bush suffered from it. There are cancers of the thyroid and there are various nodules that can form and cause trouble. Everyone knows someone or has seen people with “goiter,” which is extreme enlargement of the thyroid, usually but not always caused by too much thyroid hormone.

As I've pointed out, it is the underproduction of thyroid hormone that will concern us within these pages. More symptoms can be attributed to this single ailment than to virtually any other in the entire medical repertoire. Soon we shall review what they are. Perhaps in an effort to confound us, the disease usually displays only a few for each individual. Yet different individuals with the ailment may have virtually no symptoms in common with one another. This makes diagnosis very confusing for the doctor, and it is easy to go off in the wrong direction, suspecting other ailments.

The hyperthyroid patient often appears to be a bundle of energy; the hypothyroid one is the opposite. Slow movement, depression, and apathy are some of the qualities that are readily noticeable. In females, infertility and various menstrual abnormalities are common. The person may often feel cold (and actually may be cold!). The skin is dry, the hair lifeless, the cholesterol elevated, and, of more interest, obesity is often present. When you put these things together, you can almost bet that this is someone who has repeatedly tried to lose weight and failed.

If you are one of those for whom the diagnosis of hypothyroidism has already been correctly established, there may be real benefit in concentrating on Chapter 7, “Natural or Synthetic Treatment?,” which deals with the medications used for treating hypothyroidism. Here again I'm at odds with the status quo. I believe that the drugs in standard use today for this malady aren't the best choice. I will tell you why my experience has brought me to that conclusion. It may be an uphill battle trying to convince your doctor that another approach might be better, but it is worth the attempt.

You will come across Chapter 15, which is intended to be read by your doctor. It is not strictly just for him or her. I won't mind if you choose to read it. It is essentially a condensation of what is contained in the rest of the book. It is included in the hope that you can convince your doctor to consider seriously what I have learned from my experience with these thousands of patients. I expect that there will be resistance on the part of the doctors who tend to reject ideas that don't come from their customary sources. Old habits die hard. If you can get your doctor to contact me, I will endeavor to convince him. I will even keep a list of those physicians who are willing to embrace what we know to be true. I will make the list available to readers who would like the information.

Because those who treat thyroid problems are so influenced by the dictates of the ivory-tower authorities who have ordained a rather monolithic approach to hypothyroidism, you may expect to hear, perhaps in the media, that what I have dared to include in this book is akin to heresy. I've preempted my critics by becoming my own critic, in a sense. I know what the criticism will be, and so I've constructed an imaginary conversation between one such expert and me. The debate ensues in Chapter 16, “Debating My Position.”

Let's get started.

Copyright © 2000 by Sanford Siegal

About the Author

SANFORD SIEGAL, D.O., M.D., lives in Miami, Florida, where he has directed fourteen weight-loss clinics catering to 500,000 patients. He's the author of several books, including Dr. Siegal's Natural Fiber Permanent Weight-Loss Diet and Hunger Control Without Drugs: The Doctor's Appestatic Diet.