So, how is it that hypothyroidism can be missed by todays conventional medical system?
That’s because many doctors rely exclusively on the TSH test and do not order a full panel of thyroid blood tests to make the diagnosis. The TSH level is an indirect measure of only one kind of thyroid hormone sufficiency and does not correlate well with symptoms. A normal TSH level doesn’t rule out partial secondary hypothyroidism–where the problem is in the pituitary gland or the hypothalamus (brain) itself. This problem is more frequent than currently recognized. It is an often unrecognized cause of depression, obesity, high cholesterol, chronic fatigue, and fibromyalgia. The current practice of excluding a thyroid hormone problem on the basis of a”normal” TSH is scientifically indefensible. A large number of things can go wrong with thyroid hormone production and effectiveness and yet not show up on a TSH test. The best blood tests for thyroid hormone sufficiency are the levels of the actual free thyroid hormones in the serum: free T4 and free T3. A physician should be concerned w
