These should form part of a treatment plan to reduce thyroid hormone levels. We would strongly recommend a visit to a professional medical herbalist to look at the root causes and a comprehensive treatment plan.
Herbs for an Overactive Thyroid For hyperthyroidism the herbs most commonly used are Bugleweed Lycopus virginiana combined with Lemon balm Melissa officinalis. A typical herbal blend for hypothyroid would be Bugleweed Lycopus virginiana 4 parts Lemon balm Melissa officinalis 2 parts Motherwort Leonurus cardiaca 2 parts Hawthorn Crataegus spp 1 part A variation on this is Bugleweed Lycopus virginiana.
More Posts. Once released into the blood plasma, T4 and T3 bind reversibly to plasma proteins. Most circulating thyroid hormones are protein bound, yet only the free unbound fraction is available to tissues, whose cells actively take up the hormone molecules. Thyroid hormones bind to a specific receptor located in the nucleus of most cells.
Activation of this receptor affects many cellular functions, primarily cell growth and metabolism by direct influence on gene transcription and subsequent protein synthesis, or by direct effects on the cell or on mitochondria through stimulation of cell growth and respiration. Thyroid hormone is regulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis via a negative feedback mechanism.
Thyrotropin-releasing hormone TRH , synthesized in the hypothalamus, stimulates the pituitary gland, which manufactures thyrotropin, also known as thyroid-stimulating hormone TSH. TSH travels to the thyroid gland to stimulate synthesis and release of T4 and T3. Calcitonin lowers plasma calcium levels. The typical thyroid diseases discussed in this article are hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, thyroid nodular disease, and thyroid cancer.
Classification and diagnosis of thyroid disease involves several steps. These include evaluating a patient for the following 3 : 1 presence of clinical symptoms e. This is defined as a clinical syndrome resulting from a deficiency of thyroid hormone. Clinical symptoms generally include cold intolerance, lethargy, weight gain, and muscle aches. Physical findings may include bradycardia; thinning of hair, skin, and nails; thickening of tongue; puffiness of face, eyelids, or peripheral edema; pallor.
This is defined as a clinical syndrome resulting from an excess of thyroid hormone. Clinical symptoms generally include heat intolerance, irritability, insomnia, and fatigue.
Physical findings may include hair loss, palpitations, ophthalmopathy, tremor, and diarrhea. Subacute Thyroiditis: This refers to a diffuse swelling of the thyroid gland, which occurs as an acute inflammatory reaction typically following several types of viral infection.
In most cases the thyroid is large and very tender. Some instances of subacute thyroiditis are marked by a transient hyperthyroidism. This disease is typically self-limited, and both thyroid inflammation and transient hyperthyroidism resolve within a few months without lasting clinical symptoms. Physical irregularities of the thyroid gland not associated with abnormal antibody production may emerge as diffuse, singular, or multiple entities, and be either functional or non-functional parts of the gland.
Nontoxic Goiter: This refers to thyroid enlargement or physical irregularities of the thyroid that are not associated with hyperthyroidism. Antibody production, cancer, or hypothyroidism may or may not be present. The cause of nontoxic goiters is unknown but may reflect a condition where the thyroid tissue over responds to physiologic levels of TSH. Impaired utilization of iodine may also be a cause. In the absence of hypothyroidism, patients with nontoxic goiter are usually asymptomatic, save for the discomfort of having a mass in the neck that can interfere with normal breathing and swallowing.
Patients with nontoxic multinodular goiter may develop this disease over time when some of the physical irregularities within the thyroid gland develop into functionally autonomous, hormone-secreting nodules. A thyroid nodule may be benign or malignant. Definitive evaluation of such nodules is done via fine needle aspiration biopsy FNAB.
Nodules may be imaged via ultrasound or radionuclide scan using iodine Iodine scanning is usually reserved for determining the functional status of nodules coexisting with hyperthyroidism. The course of treatment of thyroid disease depends both on the underlying cause and the severity of secondary symptoms.
The body converts this pharmaceutical L-thyroxine to the active form liothyronine T3 as needed. Both of these drugs interfere with biosynthesis of thyroid hormone by interfering with the incorporation of iodine into thyroglobulin.
Radioactive iodine therapy with iodine is the most common treatment used in the United States for hyperthyroidism. Thyroidectomy is reserved for those patients with contraindications to antithyroid drugs and radioactive iodine therapy, coexisting suspicion for cancer, or with large, swollen thyroids that cause physical discomfort. Supplementation with some form of pharmaceutical thyroid hormone is required after surgery. Drug treatment with antihyperthyroid drugs is not indicated for subacute thyroiditis with transient hyperthyroidism, since antihyperthyroid drugs will not affect the leaking of stored thyroid hormone.
Other types of drugs may be offered to these patients to address the secondary symptoms of hyperthyroidism only such as sedatives for insomnia and beta-blockers for palpitations or tachycardia. Patients with nodular irregularities of the thyroid in whom malignancy has been excluded or deemed unlikely should proceed with periodic clinical observation. Large multinodular goiters, though benign, may exert compressive symptoms and sometimes respond to thyroid hormone suppression therapy, or they may require surgical removal.
Radioactive iodine to reduce gland size is also an option, especially if surgery is contraindicated; however, radioiodine is more effective in, and usually reserved for, hyperthyroid conditions. Full or partial thyroidectomy is the treatment of choice for differentiated thyroid cancers papillary and follicular carcinomas. After such surgery, total body radioiodine scanning may be done to look for metastatic spread, and radioiodine treatment given to ablate remnant thyroid or metastatic tissue.
Some form of pharmaceutical thyroid hormone product is given after surgery to replace thyroid hormone and suppress TSH, a thyroid tumor growth factor, to normal or low-normal levels. Follow up includes monitoring serum thyroglobulin levels, which should be low to undetectable after effective therapy.
Medullary thyroid cancer usually requires full thyroidectomy and cervical lymph node dissection. Serum calcitonin levels should be monitored. Non-differentiated anaplastic thyroid cancers are rare but comprise aggressive forms of cancer with poor prognoses.
Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are palliative only. There are few herbs in the Western herbal tradition specifically indicated for thyroid disease. Of these, there are little to no data on their effectiveness in humans. There are no herbs specifically indicated for the treatment of physical irregularities of the thyroid or thyroid cancer per se ; rather, herbs in Western alternative and complementary medicine believed to affect the thyroid specifically address symptoms of either hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism only.
Kelp Laminaria spp. Autoimmune disease, rather than iodine deficiency, is the primary cause of hypothyroidism in the United States. While iodine is one of the oldest known remedies for thyroid diseases, 2 iodine supplements and seaweed products should be used with caution and under medical supervision in all patients with thyroid disorders, since the effects of iodine supplementation on thyroid function are unpredictable and vary over time.
Four herbs are commonly suggested by Western herbalists, other practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine, and naturopathic medical textbooks for treating hyperthyroidism. Lemon balm is approved by the German Commission E for use internally for nervous sleeping disorders and gastrointestinal complaints. Bugleweed has also been shown in vitro to bind with TSH and TSH-like immunoglobulins, preventing binding to the receptor.
The Commission E also warns against abrupt discontinuation of bugleweed. Freeze-dried and aqueous extracts of gromwell, like those of lemon balm and bugleweed, have demonstrated TSH-binding and hormone conversion-preventing effects in vitro , respectively.
Motherwort is traditionally known as a heart tonic and uterine stimulant. It is approved by the German Commission E for nervous cardiac disorders and as an adjuvant for thyroid hyperfunction. Some common plant foods contain substances that can prevent the utilization of iodine, and, subsequently, impact thyroid hormone function.
They include, most prominently, members of the family Brassicaceae: cabbage Brassica oleracea , turnips B. One herb in traditional Ayurvedic medicine has been studied in animals for its effects on the thyroid—the fruit of amla Emblica officinalis, Phyllanthaceae, syn. Phyllanthus emblica. Administration of amla extract to hyperthyroid mice reduced T3 and T4 concentrations to a greater extent than the prescription antithyroid drug propylthiouracil PTU.
Thyroid disease is often treated by herbal medicine in China. Chinese herbal remedies are traditionally given as combinations rather than single herbs. Some traditional combinations are known for use in thyroid conditions and may be sold in supplements in this form: for example, Jia Kang Wan and Pingyin Fufang.
Both of the formulas also contain oyster shell, a common ingredient in TCM thyroid formulas, as sea materials with a high mineral content are considered in this modality to soften and remove masses. In order to assess the effects of Chinese herbal medicines for treating hyperthyroidism, the authors of the review searched several databases both in English and Chinese for randomized controlled clinical trials of therapy for hyperthyroidism with Chinese herbs alone, or herbs in combination with antihyperthyroid drugs or radioactive iodine.
Studies that met review inclusion criteria were obtained and the original authors contacted and interviewed to determine whether trial participants were correctly randomized. Reviewers assessed the quality of evidence and detailed the specific outcomes in each of the 13 trials. Trials could not be directly compared, since the herbal preparations used in the studies were all different from each other. The reviewers found that none of the trials used double blinding.
Exact causes of hyperthyroidism were detailed in only 4 of the studies. Primary outcomes in the trials varied and included relapse rates, adverse effects, clinical symptoms, physical symptoms, and thyroid function tests serum T3, T4, and TSH.
Each of the 13 studies evaluated a specific formula containing at least 5 or more combined Chinese herbs 2 of these studies did not mention the specific contents of formulas.
Formula types tested by the studies included capsules of dried herbs, tablets of dried herbs, ampoules of decocted herbs, and injections of decocted herbs. A total of 65 different Chinese herbs were identified throughout the 13 formulas.
While the Cochrane review authors conclude in their systematic review that Chinese herbal medicines, combined with conventional antihyperthyroid drugs, may be of some benefit to patients in relieving hyperthyroid symptoms, they also conclude that the current available studies of Chinese herbal medicine used to treat hyperthyroidism were too poorly controlled and subject to potential conflicts of interest to provide a reliable indication for any type of Chinese herbal formula for treating hyperthyroidism.
Therefore, according to the criteria employed by this systematic review, there is currently no strong clinical trial-based evidence for the use of any Chinese herb or herbal formula for the treatment of hyperthyroidism. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of Chinese herbs and herbal formulas are still needed to provide evidence for the efficacy of Chinese herbs in treating one or more specific causes or symptoms of hyperthyroidism. Data from some of the clinical studies in humans for TCM formulas containing the following herbs are summarized in English in the Cochrane review, and also in other secondary sources.
Seaweeds are known traditionally as dissolvents that can soften chronic swellings, decongest lymphatic tissue, and reduce tumors. Modern research confirms seaweed as a rich source of trace minerals, including iodine; however, the iodine content varies with species and preparation of the plant.
Another issue regarding use of seaweed in treatments is the potential for contamination by pollutants. Research shows that Sargassum biosorbs cationic metals, especially lead, in both low- and high-salt containing wastewater. Clinical studies in English evaluating the effects of Laminaria spp.
Cats tend to become hyperthyroid, while dogs and horses become hypothyroid. The diseases generally manifest with age, so testing becomes more important as any animal gets older. Clinical signs of hyperthyroidism include reduced insulin sensitivity, tissue atrophy, increased energy expenditure at rest and exercise, elevated heart rate and palpitations, anxiety and increased thermogenesis.
There are also changes at the genetic level: glucose and lipid metabolism, protein synthesis, transcriptional control, signal transduction and mitochondrial energy metabolism via increased mitochondrial uncoupling protein 3 UPC3.
Thyroid adenoma is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism in cats, but another frequent cause is carcinoma. Dogs can truly become hypothyroid. Horses are often supplemented with thyroid powder without proper diagnostic testing, which can cause iatrogenic hypothyroidism. Clinical signs of hypothyroidism include weight gain despite inappetance, fatigue, feeling cold all the time, bradycardia, shortness of breath, pericardial, pleural and abdominal effusions, poor memory and concentration, and constipation.
In dogs, lymphocytic thyroiditis and idiopathic thyroid gland atrophy are the most common causes of hypothyroidism, but diseases of the pituitary or hypothalamus can also cause secondary hypothyroidism. Since thyroid disease is so common, there are many herbs that affect the thyroid along with a plethora of research.
Also known as lemon balm or bee balm, this member of the Lamiaceae family is a commonly used medicinal herb. As with most mints, its aerial parts are used medicinally. Lemon balm inhibits TSH receptor binding, which causes decreased production of T3 and T4 in the thyroid gland.
This extract also reduces TSH level probably due to the negative feedback of thyroid hormones. Since M. Black seed or black cumin, as it is commonly known, has been used medicinally for thousands of years in Arabian and Indian traditions. Black seed has biochemical and histologic effects on thyroid hormone and the thyroid gland, respectively.
It increases circulating T4 levels 5 and circulating levels of T3. It also increases the ratio of T4:T3. Again, the negative feedback loop leads to decreasing circulating levels of TSH. Guggul is a member of the Burseraceae family; its oleogum resin is the part used medicinally. Guggul increases the uptake of iodine by the thyroid gland, 8 enhances the activity of thyroid peroxidase enzyme an iodine liberating enzyme and protease, 8,9 increases T3 production, and generally stimulates the thyroid gland.
Since serum thyroxine T4 is converted to T3 in the liver, researchers concluded that hormone levels and peroxidation are related. Bladderwrack or kelp is a brown seaweed of the Fucaceae family. The presence of organically-bound iodine in brown seaweeds as thyroid hormones may explain some of the effects of eating some brown seaweeds….
Fucus species of brown seaweeds have been used as treatment for thyroid disorders. The thyroid hormone present in Fucus is Di-Iodothyronine DIT ; it is weakly active if at all as a thyroid hormone in the mammalian body.
Two DIT molecules are condensed in an elegant esterification reaction to produce tetraiodotyrosine T4, thyroxine. The organically bound iodine in Fucus may enhance T4 production by providing some prefabricated portions of T4…. The therapeutic effects of using powdered Fucus…resemble the therapeutic effects of thyroxine medications.
Rezk et al studied the histology of the thyroid gland with radiation and kelp. They broke study rats into four groups:. Also, on the 15th day, most follicular cells were disappeared.
In this study, kelp also stabilized T3 and T4 levels in irradiated rats. There are many other herbs that affect the thyroid gland and all the hormones involved in its metabolic process. It is very important to keep the thyroid properly regulated, as it affects so many metabolic processes in the body. Veterinary Herbal Medicine.
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