Hey, people!
I’ve been getting a boat load of questions about the Covid-19 vaccines. As with all things Covid related, unfortunately, there seems to be lots of bogus misinformation.
I have created this post to look at the actual facts regarding the vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna.
It’s been really interesting to watch how many practitioners and thought leaders in the alternative medicine realm and others in the “New Age” community have aligned themselves with conspiracy theories and outright nonsense regarding the pandemic.
The very same things that are being pushed by the alt-right. It’s an odd and dangerous marriage of right and left wing “conspirituality” that has resulted, in my opinion, in the US becoming the epicenter of an out of control pandemic.
It didn’t have to be this way. What we are living through now is the consequences of this irresponsible, self serving behavior. And while there is reason for optimism, the truth is it’s not going to be over for any time soon.
If you’re looking for someone to pander to the legions of anti-mask and anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists, I’m not your man.
I’m frankly disgusted by some of my colleagues who have irresponsibly pushed conspiracy theories and made simple methods of prevention like mask wearing and social distancing into some sort of political game.
Of course, there are many important things we can do to keep ourselves healthy and less likely to get seriously ill such as take Vitamin D and zinc, and other herbs and essential oils. (I have written about these in the past.)
We should all also let this be a wake up call about the importance of good diet and exercise and how vulnerable we are when we have pre-existing conditions. That’s just common sense. As is taking simple precautions like wearing a mask, social distancing and washing hands.
I think conspiracy mongering is nothing but a form of narcissism and it should be called out as such. Here’s a good article that looks at this in depth and really does a good job of calling out this dangerous phenomenon.
As of writing this the death toll in the US is 626,713. Covid-19 is not a hoax or a grand plot to control humanity. It’s a deadly, novel virus that is lethal for some and, unfortunately, we don’t yet know enough about it to know why. So, that means anyone can be at risk of dying or of having long term effects from the virus.
The focus of this piece is to look at the pros and cons of the COVID-19 vaccines that are currently being made available via the emergency use authorization from the FDA. There are two vaccines that have been authorized at this time, one made by Pfizer and one made by Moderna.
Both are mRNA vaccines. What does this mean?
mRNA technology was discovered 30 years ago. And it has been studied for vaccine purposes for nearly two decades. Scientists were working on vaccines for both SARS and MERS, but funding was cut and they didn’t develop them until recently, when due to the pandemic we had a great deal more urgency and money to help develop these more quickly.
Clinical trials for mRNA vaccines have been conducted for influenza, Zika, rabies, and cytomegalovirus (CMV). Advances in technology in RNA biology and chemistry as with delivery systems has improved the stability, safety and effectiveness of these vaccines.
RNA and DNA are not the same. Without getting too far into the weeds, let’s say they are both some of the most important molecules for cell biology and they are used to store and share information about every cell, organ and tissue in the body.
DNA encodes the information, RNA is the reader that decodes that information. (Here’s an in-depth look at this:)
That being said, RNA vaccine development is relatively new and we just do not have much data on the long term effects of this technology. And the reality is that we won’t for some time. We are all living through a large global experiment right now involving COVID-19 and treatment and prevention strategies for it.
One concern that many people have is in the ingredients of what’s in the vaccines. This is also an area of misinformation and outright lies. Both manufacturers of these vaccines have been transparent about what is in them.
These vaccines do not use the live virus that causes COVID-19. They also do not interact with our DNA. These vaccines work by providing instructions to our immune cells by introducing fragments of the spike protein which is found on the surface of the virus (that’s what the virus uses to enter our cells).
The vaccines also do not contain fetal stem cells. Some of the vaccines being studied in clinical trials used cells originally isolated from fetal tissue. These come from historical cells lines that were derived in the 1970’s and 1980’s from two elective abortions.
The fetal cell lines that were used to produce some of the potential COVID-19 vaccines are from two sources:
HEK-293 A kidney cell line that was isolated in 1972
Per.C6 A retinal cell line that was isolated in 1985
The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna do not require the use of fetal cell cultures in order to manufacture the vaccine.
Early in the development of these vaccines they were used for “proof of concept” to show how a cell could take up mRNA and produce the COVID spike protein or to characterize the spike protein.
In fact, both vaccines have been deemed ethically uncontroversial by pro-life policy organizations like The Charlotte Lozier Institute and the Catholic Health Association of the United States.
The vaccine is injected into the muscle in the upper arm. Once in the muscle cell the cells follow the instructions from the mRNA fragment and make a piece of protein. After this is made the cells break break down these instructions and destroy them.
Next, the cell displays this protein piece on it’s surface. Our immune system recognizes this protein as something foreign and it makes antibodies against it. The development of these antibodies by our immune system gives us protection against future infection.
The obvious benefit of doing this versus actually getting COVID-19 is that you gain protection without having to go through the potentially dangerous consequences of getting the virus. However, we do not yet know how long this protection lasts.
In addition, there has been some research done by Dr. Kharrazian and Dr. Vojdani on cross-reactivity of the spike protein to some of our own tissues and this is an area of potential concern.
This may have implications for the development of autoimmune disease, but we just don’t know yet. It’s not clear whether the fragments used in the vaccines are proteins that cross react, not all of them do.
Another area of misinformation is the ingredients. There is no formaldehyde, no aluminum, and no mercury. These are sometimes used in other vaccines, they are not used in these.
When the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was granted an EUA from the FDA, its ingredients list was published online along with other safety data. The list includes:
What are the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine ingredients?
Moderna has also been given emergency use authorization for their vaccine. Moderna also recently released its ingredients list through the FDA:
OTHER FACTS
| Pfizer | Moderna |
| 95% effective 30 mcg doses given 21 days apart Must be diluted with 0.9% sodium chloride Must be stored at -112 to -76 degrees F 36,621 people took part in the clinical trial Approved for age 16 and over Published safety and final efficacy results from Phase 3 on 12/10/20 | 94.5% effective 100 mcg doses given 28 days apart No dilution required Stored at -13 to -5 degrees F 30,350 people took part in clinical trial Approved for age 18 and over Announced primary efficacy analysis on Phase 3 on 11/30/20 |
One concern that many people have is whether or not this vaccine is safe for people with autoimmunity and in our case, thyroid autoimmunity.
The CDC guidelines on this are pretty vague:
“People with autoimmune conditions may receive an mRNA vaccine. However, they should be aware that no data are currently available on the safety of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for them. Individuals from this group were eligible for clinical trials.”
Not much help.
As I mentioned previously, Dr. Kharrazian and Dr. Vojdani’s research into cross reactivity of the COVID-19 spike protein and some of our tissues revealed that some (not all of the) proteins are cross reactive to human tissue. This has implications for the development of autoimmunity from the virus.
But, I could not find data on whether or not these proteins are the proteins used in the mRNA vaccines.
Something else that has been studied is the impact of COVID-19 on the thyroid.
There is evidence that COVID-19 may result in post-infection thyroid disease. Sub-acute thyroiditis is a common finding.
This is pretty common for any virus that affects the upper respiratory system. Epstein Barr can also do this as can the flu, the mumps and other viral infections.
There is also some evidence of that thyroid disease is associated with severe COVID-19 infections.
Pre-existing hypothyroidism is not associated with increased hospitalization or ventilator use in patients with COVID-19. One study looked at 3703 COVID-19 patients (251 had pre-existing hypothyroidism, 22 had Hashimoto’s. 68% of the COVID-19 positive patients with hypothyroidism needed hospitalization. But apparently, this is not higher than other groups.
At the end of the day, there are potential consequences to the thyroid if you contract COVID-19. And while I have not seen any evidence that people with Hashimoto’s are more vulnerable to COVID, getting it may complicate the disease. How much? We still don’t know.
We do not have a lot of data on people with Hashimoto’s who got the vaccine. As you know we have a wonderful and supportive community online and I was able to survey my Facebook (51,000) and Instagram (14,000) followers and I got responses from 23 people with Hashimoto’s, all mostly frontline workers who got the vaccine.
All but two got the the first shot of the Pfizer vaccine. Of that group, none reported any severe reactions. 6 reported some soreness in the arm around the injection site which went away in a day or two. Two others reported fatigue and body aches.
Everyone else reported no reaction at all that they were aware of. None have gotten the second dose of the vaccine yet. I will be following up and asking them about this.
Whenever making a decision of this magnitude, we have to look at risk and benefit. I am not for or opposed to the vaccine. But I am opposed to misinformation and lies.
Here’s what we know:
Covid can be fatal and can cause long term damage to many parts of the body ( the lungs, the cardiovascular system, the brain and nervous system and the thyroid and more).
We don’t know who it will be fatal for, but it kills more men, and those with pre-existing conditions and people of color.
Also, the pandemic’s economic and social destruction will not end until we have some type of herd immunity. This can happen if enough people get sick (and lots, lots more will die) or we get vaccinated to such a degree as a society that the virus peters out.
Some combination of that will probably occur over the next year. The vaccine is an important part of achieving that (and ultimately saving lives).
These mRNA vaccines do not contain mercury, formaldehyde, or aluminum. Nor are fetal stem cells used to manufacture the vaccine.
So far, from the small sample size we have, there were few side effects. We don’t know about the long term effects of the vaccine, but we do know about the long term effects of COVID-19.
Vaccines have also worked historically for other diseases.
I hope this was helpful and that it can be used to help you make a better, more well informed decision about whether or not to get the vaccine.
I intend to get it as soon as I am able.
Sincerely, Marc
The impact of stress on the body has been well documented. Research has shown that stress has direct impacts on the immune system, the endocrine system and the nervous system.
Since Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune disease of the thyroid, stress has a profound effect on people who are afflicted with the disease because all these systems are involved.
It can be a cause of flare ups of symptoms, and can be a factor in the progression and worsening of the condition.
In addition, because having autoimmune disease is so stressful on the body’s physiology, people with Hashimoto’s can be very sensitive to stress.
And sometimes, they are unaware of the extent of stress’ destructive impact on their health.
Most people are conscious of it’s obvious forms: impossibly full schedules, driving in traffic, financial problems, divorce, losing a job, moving, losing a loved one and the many other emotional and psychological challenges of modern life.
But other things you don’t normally think of, can also tax the body.
These include blood sugar swings, gut dysfunction, leaky gut, food intolerances (especially gluten), chronic infections, environmental toxins, autoimmune problems and inflammation.
Not to mention the psychological toll that Hashimoto’s can cause by creating feelings of isolation, lonliness, depression and anxiety.
(To learn more, read my previous post on the physiology of stress in Hashimoto’s).
What this all boils down to is that external stress and stressful events can sometimes be very difficult to handle and it can be easy to feel overwhelmed emotionally and psychologically.
In fact, other research has also shown that for many (up to 80%) some major stressful life event often precedes a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s (this was true of my own experience, as well).
The reality is this, for some people, stress is the elephant in the room and the real problem, yet too little is being done to address it.
And this means that they may not be seeing the improvements that they expect in the way they feel and they may be disappointed by the results that they are getting.
In this post, I explore the impact of stress on the thyroid and the rest of the body.
In addition, I focus on how effective a solution meditation can be for relieving the destructive effects of stress.
One thing that’s important to understand is that stress can have a major impact on thyroid hormone conversion and absorption.
This is such a common thing that it’s basically a cliche for those who suffer from Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism.
Let’s Review the Physiology
First of all, let’s look at basic physiology.
In the body, normally, the thyroid is signaled by the pituitary with TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone). The purpose of this is to goose the thyroid into producing more thyroid hormone.
This occurs because of signals from the body that it needs more. If it’s cold or you need your heart rate to increase, or your metabolism to rev up or you needs to get things moving for sex, etc.
When this happens the thyroid releases T4 (about 97%) and a little bit of T3 (do the math – yup, 3%).
And this is the basic premise of thyroid replacement hormones like Synthroid.
It’s synthetic T4. The theory is that you just give it to the patient and tell them to call you in 6 months.
An everything should be hunky dory.
And the reason it doesn’t work is that thyroid hormone must be converted from T4 into T3 in order for the body to utilize it. This conversion happens differently in different parts of the body.
The problem with TSH only testing to determine thyroid hormone levels in the entire body is that the pituitary, which releases TSH, converts thyroid hormone differently than the rest of the body.
This is why you often see normal TSH with lots of hypothyroid symptoms (like fatigue, weight gain, hair loss, cold hands and feet, brain fog and other cognitive problems, depression and anxiety, etc.)
For a more in depth look at thyroid hormone conversion and how to improve it, check out this post.
Many doctors, somehow, are ignorant of this fact and instead of truly understanding what is happening physiologically, blame the patient for having symptoms when their lab tests say that they should be fine.
They tell their patients to eat better, get more exercise and relax and to come back in 6 months for more tests.
Only, they don’t order the right tests to determine whether or not thyroid hormone is getting converted properly and absorbed (for this you need to order the free fractions free T3 and free T4 and reverse T3.)
An important indicator of whether or not thyroid hormone is being utilized by the body is reverse T3 (rT3).
Basically, T3 is so biologically active (about 10 times stronger than T4) that the body has to have a way of disabling it.
If it isn’t disabled, it can cause hyperthyroid symptoms which can lead to heart attack, stroke, and dangerously low levels of cholesterol, and other symptoms like insomnia, palpitations, nervousness and anxiety.
(This is also why so many doctors are so hesitant to prescribe T3, because if the dosage given is too high, it can cause all the symptoms mentioned above and can even put patients at risk for cardiovascular events.)
So, in order to prevent this, the body makes rT3. It is mostly inactive, having about 1% of the power of T3. It is also what is known as a “T3 antagonist” which means it can bind to T3 receptor sites and block the action of T3.
As you can see from this illustration, rT3 is a kind of mirror image of T3 in it’s molecular structure, so it fits nicely into T3 receptors.
Think of it as a kind a break pedal for your body’s metabolism.
Normally, T4 is produced by your thyroid (or is delivered in the form of T4 medications, like Synthroid) and the body takes that and creates what is basically a balance of T3 to rT3.
When more T4 is converted to reverse T3 than into T3 and free T3, then the body may exhibit common symptoms of hypothyroidism, described earlier.
There is a medical condition called Wilson’s Syndrome (also known as Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome or Wilson’s Thyroid Syndrome, WTS) which is popular in some alternative medicine camps.
The American Thyroid Association does not recognize Wilson’s Syndrome.
The term was coined by an MD named E. Denis Wilson from Longwood, Florida (I’ve actually been there, oddly enough. :)).
He listed about 60 different symptoms associated with it (many of which are common to hypothyroid and Hashimoto’s patients).
Wilson believed this condition was brought on by stress and that it may persist even after the acute stress had passed.
The main diagnostic sign was a chronically depressed body temperature of 98.6 or lower. Wilson then recommended treatment of time released T3 and some herbs which are intended to increase T3 levels, and reduce reverse T3 levels over time.
While Wilson’s Syndrome and his treatment protocol for it are popular in some circles and are endorsed by some thyroid support groups, it has not been accepted by the wider medical community.
And unfortunately for Dr. Wilson (and the poor patient), a patient under his care in 1988 apparently died from taking excessive amounts of T3 (Though, there is some controversy about whether or not she took the medication as directed).
He was discredited by the Florida Board of Medicine and fined $10,000, given a 6 month suspension and required to take 100 hours of continuing education (in more orthodox care, no doubt).
Dr. Wilson was also subjected to psychological testing, accused of being a fraud and was not permitted to use his protocol unless “Wilson’s Syndrome” was proven to be a valid medical condition by his peers.
It has not, to date, been recognized as a valid medical condition. However, there are some practitioners who believe in Dr. Wilson’s theories and who continue to practice using his protocol.
As I mentioned, many doctors are fearful of prescribing T3 because it is so biologically active and in researching my book, How to Heal Hashimoto’s: An Integrative Roadmap to Remission I discovered that there really are causes for concern.
T3 affects cardiac muscle, contraction of the heart, and that it impacts the performance of sodium, potassium, and calcium channels in the heart.
This is why you must be very careful when taking T3, of which 90% is absorbed in the stomach.
Our thyroids naturally produce 97% T4 and 3% T3, for a reason. T4 must be converted in the liver, then in the gut by good bacteria and finally in the peripheral tissue.
So throwing caution to the wind and taking lots of T3, driving your TSH into the ground and not listening to the warnings of trained professionals may not be the best course of action.
There may be consequences to overdoing T3, especially over time, and these include bone loss, risk of heart attack and stroke, dangerously low levels of cholesterol (which is needed to make lots of hormones and is important for your brain) and more.
As always, my quest is to ask, is there a better way to approach this problem?
Well, it turns out there is. We’ll get to that in a moment. First, let’s see if Dr. Wilson may have been right about some things and let’s look at the many factors that can cause reverse T3 to become high.
In my opinion, there are parts of this that Dr. Wilson may have been right about.
Firstly, high rT3 is an indication of a metabolic problem and not just thyroid deficiency.
There is also no doubt that stress has profound effects on thyroid hormone metabolism.
With stress, cortisol levels often go up. The increased cortisol levels contribute to this disconnect in the body between the TSH and peripheral tissue T3 levels.
Stress reduces T3 levels in the tissues and increases reverse T3 and this results in hypothyroidism in the tissues of the body and potential weight gain, fatigue, and depression.
This vicious cycle of weight gain, fatigue, and depression that is associated with stress may be helped with supplementation with timed-released T3, but the risks that I mentioned do remain.
The reduced immunity from chronic stress has also been thought to be due to excess cortisol production; but the associated reduction in tissue thyroid levels are shown to play a larger role in the decreased immunity seen with stress.
As with stress, treatment with prednisone or other glucocorticoid has been shown to suppress the enzyme 5 alpha dieodinase, reducing T4 to T3 conversion and increasing T4 to reverse T3, causing a relative tissue hypothyroidism that is not detected by TSH testing.
There are also many other potential causes of high reverse T3 including: insulin resistance, leptin resistance, inflammation, yo-yo dieting, iron deficiency, chronic pain, chronic stress, serious diseases like liver, kidney, and heart disease, traumatic events and shock, serious burns, surgery, toxic chemical and heavy metal exposure, and deficiencies in other vitamins and minerals that are vital for healthy thyroid hormone production like: zinc, selenium, chromium, vitamins B6 and B12, and vitamin D.
Again, the thing that many of these conditions have in common is that they are very stressful for the body.
Now that we have established how destructive stress can be and how important it is for proper thyroid function to do something about it, let’s have a look at treatment options.
Treatment involving additional T3 can, without question, help some patients. Taking natural desiccated hormone (which uniformly has four parts T4 and one part T3) can be helpful.
Adding synthetic T3 to treatment using only T4 may also be helpful for those who don’t do well with natural desiccated. (to learn more about thyroid hormone and how to assess which one is right for you, check out my previous post.
However, treating high rT3 only by adding more T3 is not always the answer and it sometimes doesn’t address the underlying problem: STRESS
The reality is that T3 speeds up your body’s metabolism. This can add more stress because it can disrupt sleep, make you feel more nervous or anxious, give you palpitations and generally amp everything up.
So, regardless of whether or not you decide to add T3 to your treatment plan, you still need to do something to counteract the affects of stress on your body.
Meditation, as just about everyone knows, is an ancient technique for improving well being, mindfulness and a sense of balance and modern research has revealed that it has real physiological benefits.
Meditation can be done lying down, seated or standing. It involves breathing and visualizations or focused attention or deliberate lack of visualizations, the simple practice of letting go.
Let’s take a look at some of these benefits now and, in particular, look at how these practices may be used to reduce rT3, decrease the destructive impact of stress and help us solve the problems at hand without adding more medication or spending more money on supplements.
Meditation has been shown to cause improvement in various cardiovascular, neurological, autoimmune, and kidney diseases.
It has also been widely used in medical and psychological treatment therapies for stress-related physical and mental disorders.
I looked at a number of papers which analyzed the results of modern diagnostic techniques (like functional MRIs, positron emission tomography, single-photon emission computed tomography, functional electro-encephalogram, and diffusion tensor imaging).
These all assess the function and integrity of connections of the brain and show us how meditation benefits the body, mind and spirit.
The following are the results of various studies on the effects of meditation on the brain and the body. Many of these studies were done on people who had practiced meditation regularly for a prolonged period of time.
The benefits of meditation, like the benefits of exercise, are better and more prolonged if you continue to practice and do it. If you treat it like a fad and stop doing it, chances are the benefits will stop too.
Long term benefit is the result of long term commitment (just like marriage 🙂 ).
The prefrontal cortex is the part of your brain right behind your forehead. It controls cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision making, and moderating social behavior.
Studies have found lower levels of T3 (but not T4) in the pre-frontal cortex of brains of deceased Alzheimer’s patients. (Hypothyroidism can impact glucose metabolism in the brain which can have profound effects on brain function.)
Meditation has been found to improve a number of activities associated with the prefrontal cortex such as differentiating among conflicting thoughts, determining good and bad, future consequences of current activities, working toward a defined goal, predicting outcomes, and expectation based on actions.
This is the mid-part of the brain associated with emotion, learning and memory.
Problems with focus, attention and various symptoms that resemble ADD are associated with thyroid hormone resistance.
Meditation has been shown to bring more blood flow to this area of the brain (oxygen, sugar and thyroid hormone are all carried by the blood).
And this part of the brain was shown to be more developed and thicker in subjects who had practiced meditation regularly.
Meditation activates areas in the brain, which are responsible for motivation, memory, emotion, i.e., hippocampus, amygdala, and anterior cingulate.
This activity exerts protective effects on the brain generally by increasing blood flow and helping to reduce inflammation by clearing out harmful byproducts that come from the body’s metabolic processes, i.e., oxidative stress.
Meditation also improves concentration and cognitive function( like memory) this may be due to activation of reward or motivation circuit in the hippocampus/limbic system.
Stress reduces the growth of neurons in the brain and promotes the destruction of brain cells in adult hippocampus, therefore causing memory impairment, and meditation relieves stress, and increases neuronal growth, making it really helpful in dementia syndromes.
(And just so you know, dementia and Alzheimer’s is the second leading cause of death in the US. Chances are, you or someone you love is going to be impacted by this.)
Meditation also increases levels of inhibitory (GABA- a calming neurotransmitter) neurons, therefore reducing anxiety and depression.
It’s also interesting to note that increased bridging of hemispheres of the brain (corpus callosum, which acts as a bridge between two hemispheres) is increased in thickness and enhanced in meditator.
This may indicate greater connectivity, possibly reflecting increased integration of the two hemispheres during brain activity involving pre-frontal regions.
What that means is meditation actually gives you a bigger brain. 🙂
Several studies have shown how the parasympathetic system is more predominate during meditation. This causes a decrease in heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen metabolism.
However, a recent study suggested that both the parasympathetic and sympathetic systems were stimulated as there is variability in heart rate during meditation.
This may suggest that both parts of the nervous system are actually activated. This could also explain why meditation produces that feeling of calm and awareness at the same time.
These are the molecules of emotion.
Often with Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism we find deficiencies in one or more of the neurotransmitters, such as: serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine and GABA.
This is one of the reasons why anxiety and depression are such common symptoms for Hashimoto’s patients.
Meditation has been shown to increase blood plasma levels of melatonin, resulting in the feelings of calmness, decreased feelings of pain and better sleep.
Levels of serotonin metabolites in the urine of meditators are elevated suggesting increased serotonin in the brain.
Increasing serotonin can also increase dopamine levels and concentration and sustained focus of meditation can also increase acetylcholine levels.
Another possible reason for the impact of meditation on neurotransmitters is how it affects the hypothalamus and the thyroid axis.
With aging and hypothyroidism, TSH levels rise and activities in the body slow. This can cause resistance to TSH and problems with the thyroid-hypothalmus-pituitary axis.
But the opposite effect to that is seen in long-term practitioners of meditation, which may be due to more efficient functioning of the pituitary-thyroid axis.
Nitric oxide levels also increase during meditation, increasing blood flow. (This can be very beneficial for those who suffer with cold hands and feet and poor circulation.)
Regarding stress, in a study that had people do meditation for 4 months, cortisol decreased significantly in long-term practitioners during meditation and remained somewhat low afterward.
Which means that rT3 levels may also be reduced. (I have seen this in some of my patients who practice meditation.)
Beta endorphins are your body’s natural opiates. This is what low dose naltrexone helps to increase. Well, it turns out you may not need that medication if you meditate regularly.
Levels of beta endorphins are also increased during meditation producing a state of deep calmness with increased tolerance for stress and challenges. (That’s the buzz you get from meditating, running or exercising – feels good!)
Finally, Hashimoto’s and many other forms of chronic disease are caused by destructive inflammation.
And the reality is that stress is very inflammatory.
Especially long term chronic stress that goes untreated for years. Prolonged stress alters the effectiveness of cortisol to calm inflammation because it decreases tissue sensitivity to the hormone.
Immune cells can become insensitive to cortisol’s regulatory effect. As a result, non-stop inflammation is thought to promote the development and progression of these chronic diseases.
Cytokines are the immune modulators and controllers of the defense system of our body. Their levels are definitely influenced by meditation.
IL-6 and TNF-alpha are increased, IL-4 and IL-12 levels remain stable, interferon-gamma-secreting cells increased and IL-10- secreting cells decreases these results are according to a pilot study (see below).
More studies need to be done on this and I think there is a possibility that meditation and qi gong (which is what that pilot study looked at) may also have a modulating effect on the immune system.
The immune system doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it is in constant communication with the endocrine system, the nervous system, the digestive system and the brain.
Given all the positive impacts of meditation on all these other systems, it is not hard to imagine that meditation may also have a calming effect on the immune system.
This is particularly important in autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto’s where an overzealous immune system is attacking and destroying thyroid tissue.
Calming that activity is very, very important. And as we have seen there is ample evidence that meditation does this.
Meditation has many positive effects for Hashimoto’s patients. But like a proper diet, it is not a fad.
In order for it to be most effective you must do it and it must become a daily part of your maintenance of health and well being.
I am currently involved in a long term experiment of my own. I meditate a minimum of 15 minutes daily and I am combining this with qi gong and HIIT training.
My goal is to see to what extent diet and exercise can have a positive impact on my Hashimoto’s. I am roughly 9 months into this and I feel amazing.
I’m in the best shape of my entire life and more importantly I have lots of energy and feel a generally high level of contentment.
And when I’m faced with challenges, disappointments and set backs, they seem smaller and less significant and I am much more skilled at letting them go and not dwelling on them.
You know, all of this science and research is great for skeptics and for understanding how these things benefit us, but the proof is in the pudding.
How do you feel every day?
That’s what really matters.
If your current treatment strategy isn’t making you feel better (and I mean significantly better), then it may be time to look at other things like meditation.
It costs you nothing but a few minutes a day.
It doesn’t require a prescription.
You don’t need a doctor or a guru.
All you need to do is sit and breath.
Stress can kill you, literally. Medication can sometimes help and can also be a unending sinkhole of frustration. especially when your doctor doesn’t really have a good sense of what to do next.
Meditation is the gift that keeps on giving. Take a look at these studies and, more importantly, start doing it and start feeling the rewards.
They are definitely cumulative. Like a good wine they just keep getting better and better with time. 🙂
No more excuses, do it and see how amazing you feel!
Want a free guided meditation audio that you can listen to today? Click here and it’s yours.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361287/ 30 Years of studies on stress’ impact on the body.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18190880 Up to 80% of people reported a major stress event prior to autoimmune disease onset
State of Florida, Department of Health. February 12, 1992. Final Order Number: DPR9200039ME Dr. Wilson’s final sentencing decree
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10956378 Review of Thyroid hormone metabolism
http://www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/11/544/11544357.pdf Peripheral conversion of T4 into T3 and rT3
http://www.umasatyayogaanatomy.com/uploads/6/2/1/2/62123413/molecular_mechanisms_of_meditation.pdf Self explanatory
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2953721/ Thyroid hormone levels in the prefrontal cortex in Alzheimer patients
http://www.endocrine-abstracts.org/ea/0011/ea0011s16.htm Affects of hypothyroidism on brain function
Brefczynski L JA, Lutz A, Schaefer HS, Levinson DB, Davidson RJ (2007) Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104:11483-11488 3. Pollmann S (2004) Anterior prefrontal cortex contributions
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0006899396001771 Attention problems and thyroid hormone resistance
Esch T, Fricchione GL, Stefano GB (2003) The therapeutic use of the relaxation response in stress-related diseases. Med Sci Monit 9:23-34
Travis F, Tecce J, Guttman J (2000) Cortical plasticity, contingent negative variation, and transcendent experiences during practice of the transcendental meditation technique. Biol Psychol 55:41- 55
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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120402162546.htm How stress affects inflammation
Jones BM (2001) Changes in cytokine production in healthy subjects practicing Guolin Qigong:a pilot study. BMC Complement Alternat Med 1:8
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Adapted from Chapter Seventeen of How to Heal Hashimoto’s: An Integrative Road Map to Remission, published by Hay House. 
In this post, I will show you how to use the A.P.A.R.T. System to heal the adrenals.
Not sure what that means? Click here to learn about the A.P.A.R.T. System.
Open your journal (keeping a food/behavior/reaction journal is an absolute necessity, in my opinion, if you are serious about healing your Hashimoto’s) and try to figure out which symptoms of problems with the adrenals you have (see below for a list).
Note what they are, then create a plan for addressing them.
After that take inventory of what you did. Look at what worked and what didn’t. Both will provide valuable information.
Double down on what worked, change what didn’t. Keep at it.
But don’t wait to deal with stress and heal the adrenals. They are just too important to wait.
Symptoms of Low Cortisol (Adrenal Exhaustion Phase)
Cannot stay asleep
Crave salt
Slow starter in the morning
Afternoon fatigue
Dizziness when standing up quickly
Afternoon headaches
Headaches with exertion or stress
Weak nails
Symptoms of High Cortisol (Adrenal Resistance /Alarm Stages)
Cannot fall asleep
Perspire easily
Under high amount of stress
Weight gain when under stress
Wake up tired even after 6 or more hours of sleep
Excessive perspiration or perspiration with little or no activity
In this section let’s take a look at some testing we can do for the adrenals and also to talk about the 3 stages of adrenal burnout.
Ok, so like virtually everything in our body, things don’t usually happen overnight. They develop over time and progress from ok, to sort of bad to really bad if you do’t do anything to stop that progression.
We saw this with the progression to type 2 diabetes. It goes from dysglycemia to insulin resistance to metabolic syndrome to full blown diabetes.
The same is true with autoimmune disease. It goes from silent autoimmunity to reactive autoimmunity to full blown autoimmune disease.
The adrenals are no exception. Adrenal problems also go through a progression as well.
It looks like this:
1. Alarm reaction: This happens in normal life. The adrenal glands become hyperactive to increase cortisol levels to adapt to the demands of stress.
2. The second stage is the Resistance stage: This occurs in response to prolonged stress as the body steals pregnenolone from cholesterol to make cortisol- also known as the pregnenolone steal.
When this happens, hormonal imbalances arise because there isn’t enough cholesterol to make them. It can cause PMS, infertility, male menopause, and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
3. The third stage is the Exhaustion stage: At the point the adrenals are saying “Uncle” and they can no longer adapt to stress.
The cofactors needed to make cortisol become depleted and cortisol levels drop too low. Because the adrenals no longer produce sufficient cortisol, the pregnenolone steal cycle also stops.
Basically, let me give you a quick run down of what they are.
The first is to test your blood pressure in 2 different positions: sitting or lying down and standing.
Firstly, Take and compare two blood pressure readings—one while lying down or sitting and one while standing. Rest for five minutes in a relaxed position before taking the reading.
Stand up and immediately check your blood pressure again. If the blood pressure is lower after standing, then you may have reduced adrenal gland function, and more specifically, an aldosterone issue–(Aldosterone is an adrenal hormone and hypothyroidism can lead to low levels of aldosterone in the blood.)
(Normal adrenal function will elevate your BP on the standing reading in order to push blood to the brain.)
It’s also a good idea to do this test both in the morning and in the evening, because you can appear normal one time, and not another.
The second test you can do is to check your pupils. This is called the Pupil Test and it also tests levels of aldosterone.
You need to be in a dark room with a mirror. From the side (not the front), shine a bright light like a flashlight or penlight towards your pupils and hold it for about a minute. Carefully observe what happens to your pupil.
With healthy adrenals (and specifically, healthy levels of aldosterone),your pupils will constrict, and will stay small the entire time you shine the light from the side.
The light causes them to constrict, it’s a natural response to having light shone in your eye.
In adrenal fatigue, the pupil will get small, but within 30 seconds, it will soon get larger again again or obviously start to flutter as it tries to stay small.
Why does this happen?
Because when you have adrenal insufficiency you can also have low aldosterone, which can cause an imbalance in sodium and potassium (too little sodium and too much potassium).
This imbalance is what causes the sphincter muscles of your eye to be weak and to dilate in response to light.
So the fluttering struggle to keep the pupil small may mean you have adrenal challenges.
In terms of laboratory tests, there are a couple ASI or Adrenal Salivary Index and the DUTCH or Dried Urine Test for Comprohensive Hormones. These provide the most accurate, useful and comprehensive test for the adrenals.
One important thing to understand about this test; (and this is true of a number of different tests) The most important test is the second or even third test.
One test is useless, because we are establishing a baseline and then we are going to take action. And we need to know if what we are doing is helping.
The second and third tests give us that information. We must always reassess and readjust.
And the adrenals generally respond to treatment pretty well. If they don’t you need to look for something deeper. A parasite or heavy metal toxicity, a chronic viral infection or some food intolerance.
Some times you have to be a detective and examine, step by step, all of these things.
The ASI tells us how a person’s adrenals are working throughout the day. Its a 24 hour test. Cortisol is secreted in a specific pattern over a 24 hour day and by measuring saliva at different intervals throughout the day, we can chart the cortisol levels.
Being in a chronic state of alarm or prolonged stress will mess with this rhythm. One example of this is people who are night owls, or have trouble falling, staying asleep or they wake up really tired after getting enough sleep.
Their rhythm has been disrupted.
The ASI shows abnormalities in this circadian rhythm, charts key hormone levels and pinpoints where problems arise along the way. It can be a really valuable test.
The DUTCH test, which uses dried urine, is innovative in a number of respects, and offers several benefits over older hormone tests.
For example, a conventional (liquid sample) urine test gives you metabolites you simply can’t get in a blood or saliva test, but the collection method can be quite messy and inconvenient.
One of the biggest problems with hormone testing is that some hormones fluctuate throughout the day. Cortisol, for example, rises as soon as you get out of bed and then declines as the day wears on.
If your diurnal pattern is dysfunctional, meaning you’re low in the morning and high at night, you have a serious problem. But a 24-hour urine test cannot show you this.
That’s really the advantage of a saliva test, which is done several times over the course of a day. By taking multiple samples throughout the day, you can get a more accurate measure of your cortisol pattern. The drawback is the collection method, which can be time consuming and tedious.
The DUTCH test, on the other hand, captures all of that information and more in one simple test. Simply urinate on the filter paper on the collection device and let it dry.
Those test strips are then used to give you a complete hormone panel, including metabolites, (which can’t be measured in blood or saliva), effectively replacing multiple testing methods.
Both of these tests can be useful tools for determining your next steps and identifying the type of adrenal problem that you have.
If we want to heal out Hashimoto’s, we absolutely have to heal our adrenals.
And the reality is that this whole process of healing these multiple systems is, without question going to take longer than it takes you to read this book.
I am teaching you about what is going on. Correcting it takes time, patience, vigilance and devotion.
But it is so worth it, people.
Some of the tests that you can do for the adrenals are:
1. The blood pressure test. Take 2 measurements, one seated or lying downand one standing. Compare them. If there is a big difference, this may point to adrenal problems.
2. The pupil test. Point a light at your pupils. Watch it constrict, then watch it return to normal. If it gets small and quickly goes back to normal or flutters, then, “Houston, we’ve got a problem”.
3. Lastly, the best laboratory test is the ASI or Adrenal Salivary Index. This takes multiple saliva tests throughout the day and tracks your circadian rhythm. It can be very helpful, not only for identifying the problem but also for tracking your progress in fixing it.
Not everything has the same level importance. This is what 80/20 teaches us. Some things are having more of an impact than others. Figure out which they are (the positive feedback loops) and then make a plan to fix them.
What does that mean when it comes to the adrenals? Check kidney and adrenal function. Adrenal health is very important if you are taking? thyroid replacement hormone.
The warning label for Synthroid states:
“Patients with concomitant adrenal insufficiency should be treated with replacement glucocorticoids prior to initiation of treatment with levothyroxine sodium.
Failure to do so may precipitate an acute adrenal crisis when thyroid hormone therapy is initiated, due to increased metabolic clearance of glucocorticoids by thyroid hormone.”
What this means, in plain English, is that in cases of hypothyroidism, the adrenals need to be evaluated before putting patients on thyroid replacement hormone. And if they aren’t and you give them thyroid hormone anyway, this may cause an acute adrenal crisis. Not good.
How many people with Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism do you think have adrenal insufficiency? A lot.
And how many were tested for adrenal insufficiency before they were put on thyroid hormone? Very few.
Clearly, evaluating and treating the adrenals, if necessary, is a major priority.
Once you have evaluated your adrenals, and you’ve established a plan, the you need to act on that plan. Here’s a some of the actions you can take.
Adaptogenic Herbs:
There are quite a few herbs that have adaptogenic properties, meaning that they help your body adapt to stress.
But as with everything, there is a risk/benefit analysis that must be done with them, especially when autoimmunity is involved. You must be cautious about stimulating the immune system when taking adaptogenic herbs.
Here’s a list of herbs that can be helpful, it may be best to introduce them one at a time rather than in a mixed formula. That way, if you have a reaction, you’ll know which herb was responsible:
Acanthopanax
American gensing
Ashwaghanda (this plant is a nightshade and may cause a reaction)
Cordyceps
Codonopsis
Eleuthrococcus
He shou wu (also excellent for helping promote hair growth)
Holy Basil
Jiaogulan (also excellent for reducing cholesterol)
Licorice
Maca
Panax gensing
Rhodiola
Schizandra
ACTH is to the adrenals what TSH is to the thyroid. It regulates cortisol production. High ACTH may mean the adrenals aren’t producing enough cortisol. Low ACTH may mean the pituitary isn’t producing enough adrenal hormones.
ACTH Increasing:
Ginko
Panax ginseng
Tripterygium
ACTH Reducing:
Acanthopanax
Hypercium
Licorice
Earlier, we looked at symptoms for the different stages of adrenal issues. Figure out which stage you are in and try the supplements below.
1. Alarm Stage:
Balance blood sugar and support healthy response to insulin resistance: alpha lipoic acid, biotin, chromium, gynemma sylvestre, inositol, magnesium, zinc
Adaptogens: See above
Essential fatty acids: fish oil, evening primrose oil
2. Resistance Stage:
Balance blood sugar and support healthy response to insulin resistance: alpha lipoic acid, biotin, chromium, gynemma sylvestre, inositol, magnesium, zinc
Adaptogens: See above
Essential fatty acids: fish oil, evening primrose oil
Add licorice, and B vitamins (see food sources below)
3. Adrenal Exhaustion:
1. Chromium, adrenal, pancreas glands, choline bitartrate, co-enzyme Q 10, inositol, rubidium chelate, vanadium.
Adaptogens: See above
Essential fatty acids: fish oil, evening primrose oil
Add licorice, and B vitamins (see food sources below)
In cases of extreme exhaustion, consider consulting a physician or practitioner. You may benefit by adding pregnenolone and/or DHEA.
VITAMIN B1: rice bran, pinto bean, peas, millet, lentils, almonds, turnip greens, collard greens, kale, asparagus
VITAMIN B2: salmon, trout, cod, mackerel, perch, oysters, mushrooms, almonds, hijiki
VITAMIN B3: rice bran, red pepper, wild rice, kelp, sesame seed, peaches, brown rice, mushrooms, barley, almonds, apricot
VITAMIN B5 (PANTOTHENIC ACID): beef, chicken, salmon, mackerel, sardines, barley, rice, avocado, plums, raisins, almonds, dates
VITAMIN B6: banana, barley, brewer’s yeast, molasses, brown rice, liver, beef, cabbage, carrots, potato, yams
VITAMIN B12: beef liver, beef kidney, ham, sole, scallops, eggs, oats, pickles, amasake, algae, spirulina and chlorella, brewer’s yeast
FOLIC ACID: liver, asparagus, lima beans, spinach, swiss chard, kale, cabbage, sweet corn
Retest, Reassess and ask all over again. Figure out what worked and what didn’t. Double down on what worked and either eliminate or recreate a plan for what didn’t.
Try some things and reassess.
Retest your adrenals, Reorder the ASI (Adrenal Salivary Index) and see if what you did helped.
Keep doing it, keep refining, keep building on the positive results and keep looking for the remaining positive feedback loops that are causing vicious cycles.
The adrenals are a critically important part of the puzzle and given their importance for whether or not you can take thyroid hormone, it makes sense to make healing them your top priority.
Looking for help in assessing your adrenals? Do a consultation with Marc. Click here to learn more.
Slide from presentation by Dr. A. Vojdani on LDN
Hashimoto’s is the most common autoimmune disease of the thyroid and if affects millions of people globally. The most common treatment for this condition is synthetic T4 (usually Synthroid or a generic equivalent).
For many this treatment is ineffective and for some it only makes their symptoms worse. There are many reasons for this, but one of the important ones is that synthetic T4 does not sufficiently address the autoimmunity that is at the root of this disease.
In addition, unfortunately, many doctors ignore autoimmunity and pretend that it isn’t there. This is an abdication of responsibility and it can result in poor outcomes and poor clinical results.
And, unfortunately, it is the patients who suffer most from this approach. In this post, which is part of a new series, we will explore alternatives to just giving synthetic T4. One that shows promise with very few side effects is Low Dose Naltrexone, also known as LDN.
Naltrexone is a drug that was originally approved in the 1980’s as a treatment for opiate and alcohol addiction. The drug is an opiate antagonist and it blocks opiate receptors on cells. So it blocks the effects of legal and illegal opiates like morphine, codeine, oxycontin and heroin and opium.
With alcohol, it acts to block endogenous opiates which are opiates our bodies naturally produce. These include endorphins, enkephalin and other hormones we produce naturally.
When these natural opiates are blocked, there are more of them in the system and it can result in less craving and consumption of alcohol by alcoholics.
It is also this effect of blocking our natural opiates that also may provide benefit by calming and modulating the immune system in autoimmunity.
Naltrexone was approved in 1984 by the FDA in a 50 mg dose as a treatment for heroin addiction. When it was licensed, Dr. Bernard Bihari, then involved in running programs for treating addiction, tried it with more than 50 heroin addicts.
None of the patients stayed on the drug because of side effects experienced at the 50 mg dosage such as insomnia, depression, irritability and loss of feelings of pleasure, (all due to the effect of the drug at this dose in blocking endorphins which are involved in many of these activities and emotions).
Physicians treating heroin addicts with this approach got frustrated and many stopped prescribing naltrexone. Then, in the 1980s, a large number of heroin addicts began to get sick with AIDS (studies from that time have shown that about 50% of heroin addicts were HIV Positive).
Dr. Bihari and his colleagues decided to shift their research focus to AIDS, in particular studying ways of strengthening the immune system. Since endorphins are involved in supporting and regulating the immune system, levels of endorphins were measured in the blood of AIDS patients. They were found to average only 25% of normal.
Naltrexone became the focus of Dr. Bihari’s research group because they observed that when given to mice and people at high doses, the body raises endorphin levels to compensate for the naltrexone blockade.
The group discovered that endorphins are almost all produced in the middle of the night, between 2 AM and 4 AM, and the studies focused on small doses (1.5-4.5 mg at bedtime) with the hope that a brief period of endorphin blockade before 2 AM might induce an increase in the body’s endorphin production.
In fact, it was discovered that the drug was able to do this in this lower dosage range. It had no effect below 1.5 mg and too much endorphin blockade at doses over 5 mg. A placebo-controlled trial in AIDS patients showed a much better outcome in patients on the drug as compared with those on placebo.
By coincidence, during the research trial, a close friend of Dr. Bihari’s daughter had three acute episodes of multiple sclerosis over a nine-month period with complete spontaneous recovery from each.
Because of his knowledge of MS as a neurologist and of recent evidence that naltexone might have impact on autoimmunity, Dr. Bihari decided to start his daughter’s friend on the drug at 3 mg every night at bedtime.
She took it for five years with no further attacks. At that point, when her supply ran out, she stopped it because she thought she no longer had MS.
About a month later, she developed an episode of weakness, numbness, stiffness and spasms in her left arm ( all common symptoms of MS) and resumed LDN, which she then stayed on for 12 years. During that time she reportedly had no further disease activity.
The exact mechanism of how naltrexone works with immune related diseases is not fully understood. But here’s what we do know.
LDN Works in Several Ways:
A small dose of the drug taken nightly at bedtime increases endorphin levels in the body the following day.
Since endorphin levels are often low in people with autoimmunity, immune function is impaired and the normal immune regulatory function of CD4 cells is affected.
These cells include proteins in the TH-1, TH-2 and TH-17 families that can cause so much damage with autoimmune disease. These cells and proteins that are related to them are what create antibodies to our own tissue, signal attacks on that tissue and, ultimately lead to the destructive inflammatory process that destroys it.
If the T regulatory part of the immune system is weak, these other parts of the immune system can get out of control and cause more significant damage.
The anti-inflammatory effect of LDN has been studied and using it resulted in suppressed TNF-alpha, IL-6, MCP-1, and other inflammatory agents in peripheral macrophages.
It also has strong effect on calming glial cells and given the wide variety of inflammatory factors produced by activated microglia (e.g., proinflammatory cytokines, substance P, nitric oxide, and excitatory amino acids) this is also a significant effect of the treatment.
Opioid growth factor (OGF; [Met5]-enkephalin) is a natural peptide that has been shown to inhibit growth of certain cancer cells. LDN has shown promise in treating liver and pancreatic cancers.
LDN is an opioid receptor antagonist that acts at classical and non-classical opioid receptors including the opioid growth factor receptor (OGFr).
Animal models of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, as well as normal rodents, have shown that topical naltrexone enhances the healing rates of corneal epithelium and full-thickness cutaneous wounds. The mechanism of this general opioid antagonist on growth, and in particular the specific receptor pathway involved, is not understood.
Neuropeptides may play a role in irritable bowel syndrome and these molecules (e.g., enkephalins and endorphins) are present in the gastrointestinal tract and these modulate immune responses.
Upregulation of met-enkephelin (opioid growth factor-OGF) and opioid receptors can all be induced by low dose naltrexone.
LDN displaces endogenous endorphins bound to the OGF receptor. Affected cells become low in OGF which results in more receptors being made.
Receptor sensitivity is increased to capture more OGF and production of OGF is also increased to compensate for the perceived shortage of this molecule.
Higher levels of endogenous opioids and receptors inhibit cell proliferation which suppresses B and T lymphocyte responses. Naltrexone has been shown to reverse a mouse colitis model by decreasing the pro-inflammatory interleukins 6 and 12.
LDN has been shown to stimulate certain parts of the immune system and suppress and down-regulate others. It has been shown to inhibit IL-17, a protein that is part of the TH-17 family. It can also down regulate IL-10 and TGF beta (Transforming Growth Factor beta).
What’s interesting to observe here is that not everyone has the same immune cell profiles and LDN may work better on those that have a profile that best fits the things that it enhances and suppresses.
(Note: If the part of your immune system that is causing problems is not suppressed but rather stimulated by LDN, then you might feel worse after taking it.
Once again, this is very complicated and not everyone with Hashimoto’s and autoimmunity has the same immune configuration. This may explain why some people do well with the drug and others seem not to.)
There is no real consensus on how this all works and considerable debate about how LDN does what it does.
One such question is whether or not immune cells have opiate receptors.
There is some debate in the scientific community about whether or not the effect of opioids on the immune system are due to the fact that immune cells have opiate receptors.
Researchers have not been able to find these receptors, yet there is no doubt that opiates have a powerful effect on immune cells. And there is ample evidence of the functional influence of opioids on these cells.
In fact, in many ways opiates behave like immune cells, themselves. They impact the production of immune cells by acting locally, and inside cells, they affect gene expression and these influences both depend on dosage and time.
One thing that’s also important to understand is that the endogenous opiates in our bodies do not behave the same as drugs like morphine, heroin and other exogenous opiates.
What’s also interesting is that immune cells themselves contain endogenous opiate proteins. They actually carry them to sites of inflammation.
Immune cells have been shown to contain numerous opioid peptides such as β-endorphin (END), met-enkephalin (ENK), and dynorphin-A (DYN), although the most common appears to be END.
These opioid-containing immune cells travel to inflamed tissues and once there, opioid peptide is released from the immune cells upon stimulation with corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF), noradrenaline, and interleukin 1β (IL-1β), and then the immune cells return to the local lymph node depleted of this peptide.
Which means if you can increase the amount of these endogenous opiates (which LDN does) you have more of them available to be delivered.
It’s also interesting to note that research found that endogenous opiates can raise TSH.
So if you can follow the logic of this, systemic immunosuppression (which is the standard approach used to treat autoimmune diseases) may affect the body’s ability to regulate immune cells that are important for the release of endogenous opioid peptides within inflamed tissue.
To further complicate matter it is know that exogenous opioids may impair immune cell function, something not shared by endogenous opioid peptides.
This means that giving pain relieving medication that are opiates may also impair immune system function.
So if you have autoimmune disease and you are using immunosuppresant therapy and opiates for pain relief, you are setting yourself up for failure and may be making the disease progression worse and more severe.
Another really interesting thing that the research reveals is the role of glial cells in the brain and central nervous system on opioids.
This research has shown that these cells can become activated and they can make the opioids not work as well.
This happens via numerous mechanisms, including directly affecting receptors, upregulation of excitatory amino acid receptor function, downregulation of GABA receptor function, etc.
The downstream effects of glial activation result in increased pain, suppressed acute opioid pain relief, increased tolerance, and the development of opioid dependence.
Conditions such as fibromyalgia may involve chronic glial cell activation and subsequent production of pro-inflammatory factors.
And Hashimoto’s and fibromyalgia have many symptoms that are identical. See this post I wrote on this.
In addition, it is widely known that T3 has important and dramatic effects on the microglia and hypothyroidism, “functional hypothyroidism” and “low T3 syndrome” can all result in glial cell activation, making all of this worse.
One theory is that LDN, itself, is a glial cell modulator. It may calm theses glial cells and prevent them from exerting the damage that they do.
What’s also really interesting is that CBD (Cannabanoid) has also been found to calm glial cells. I’ll be exploring this more in an upcoming post.
Naltrexone taken at low doses has virtually no side effects. According to lowdosenaltrexone.org, occasionally, during the first week’s use of LDN, patients may complain of some difficulty sleeping.
This rarely persists after the first week. Should it do so, dosage can be reduced from 4.5mg to 3mg nightly.
LDN Will Interfere With Narcotic Medication
Because LDN blocks opioid receptors throughout the body for three or four hours, people using narcotic medication — such as Ultram (tramadol), morphine, Percocet, Duragesic patch or codeine-containing medication — should not take LDN until such medicine is completely out of one’s system.
Patients who have become dependent on daily use of narcotic-containing pain medication may require 10 days to 2 weeks of slowly weaning off of such drugs entirely (while first substituting full doses of non-narcotic pain medications) before being able to begin LDN safely.
LDN May Impact Thyroid Hormone Dosage
Patients who are taking thyroid replacement hormone for Hashimoto’s with hypothyroidism ought to begin LDN at the lowest range (1.5mg for an adult).
Be aware that LDN may lead to a prompt decrease in the autoimmune disorder (and less inflammation within the thyroid and the rest of the body), which then may require a reduction in the dose of medication in order to avoid symptoms of hyperthyroidism.
LDN Should Not Be Taken With Immunosuppresant Medication
People who have received organ transplants and who therefore are taking immunosuppressive medication on a permanent basis are cautioned against the use of LDN because it may act to counter the effect of those medications.
The same is also true for people who have been prescribed immunosuppresant medications. As we learned above, the long term consequences of this medication may be increased severity and progression of the disease.
There are several important takeaways from this post:
1. LDN is safe and has few side effects
2. Dosage really matters, less is absolutely more!
3. There is ample evidence that it can be beneficial in calming the immune system in autoimmunity, though how it works is not yet fully understood.
There is evidence that it calms TH-1, TH-17 and other cytokines and that it can help calm glial cells in the brain and CNS (Central Nervous System).
3. It is not the magic bullet. If you don’t have an immune system profile that fits the way LDN works in your body, it may not work for you as effectively as it does for others.
And you can’t take it and ignore all the other things we must do to heal Hashimotos such as:
Healing your brain, and calming glial cells, healing your adrenals, healing your gut and doing all of the other things we advocate.
But LDN may be a good option and could give you the upper hand in dealing with immune system dysfunction.
http://www.ldnresearchtrust.org
http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org/ldn_and_ai.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC95944/ Opiates receptors on immune cells
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3962576/ LDN and pain treatment
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22850250 TLR4 Receptors
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22826216 TLR4 Receptors promote autoimmunity
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23188075 LDN for Crohn’s disease in children (safety)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17222320 LDN improves Crohn’s disease
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1857294/ Glial cells as “bad guys” opioids and glial cell modulation
Endogenous opioids and immune modulation
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1661636/ Endogenous opioid analgesia
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3912755/ Mu opiod receptor
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0034-70942012000500010&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en Opioids and the Immune system
http://bja.oxfordjournals.org/content/111/1/80/T1.expansion.html Table of impact of endogenous opioids on the immune system. ENDOGENOUS OPIATES INCREASE TSH!
http://bja.oxfordjournals.org/content/111/1/80.full Opioids and immune modulation
http://www.nature.com/icb/journal/v78/n5/full/icb200077a.html Effect of neuropeptides on the immune system
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9610674 Opioid cytokine connection
http://www.jimmunol.org/content/186/9/5078.full.pdf Relationship of T cells and pain relief
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4407783/ Endogenous opioids inhibit TH-1 and TH-2
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12026-008-8018-0 Microglial Cells and Parkinson’s
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1661636/ Endogenous opioid analgesia
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2096733/ Endogenous neurotransmitters function as retrograde inhibitory neurotransmitters
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4452882/ T3 and microglia
http://www.ldnscience.org/opioid-growth-factor-ogf/51-ogf/ogf-explanatory
Like most health conditions, Hashimoto’s has no single cause.
It is the result of the perfect storm of factors that include a genetic predisposition, exposure to some pathogen (often a herpes virus), the breakdown of the gut and barrier systems (without or without the help of gluten), exposure to gluten, environmental toxins like radiation, mercury and other toxic chemicals and often, some particularly stressful event.
In this post we explore one of those causes, the herpes virus.
As many of you know, I have Hashimoto’s and have made it my life’s work to understand everything I can about the causes, treatment and management of this disease.
I also have herpes simplex 1 (along with 90% of the population). While this is not a life threatening disease it can be the cause of shame and embarrassment, especially when I get a more serious outbreak on my face or lips.
As a health care practitioner, there are times when having an outbreak of herpes has made me feel like I’m not very good at my job because it can look much worse than it is.
But the reality is that there are few other biological entities as resilient and unstoppable as the herpes virus. All the technology at our disposal is pretty useless when it comes to trying to eradicate this infection.
And I suppose one blessing of having it is that I can not venture too far from the things I know I need to do to stay healthy. The virus will rear it’s ugly head and remind me to get back in line.
In addition, one thing I have observed in my own life is that an outbreak of herpes can also affect my Hashimoto’s, resulting in a debilitating double whammy that can affect me emotionally, physically and psychologically.
So I thought I would explore this in more depth, and look at the relationship between herpes and Hashimoto’s. You may be surprised by the information and the impact that these various herpes diseases can have.
There are 8 different herpes viruses known to infect human beings. These include herpes simplex 1 & 2, varicella zoster (which causes chicken pox) also known as herpes 3, Epstein Barr virus (herpes 4), Cytomegalovirus (herpes 5), Human Herpes Virus 6 & 7 and Human Herpes Virus 8 found in people with complications due to HIV.
While the whole herpes family is believed to be linked to autoimmune disease, there is more research into the link between herpes simplex 1 & 2, Epstein Barr, and Cytomegalovirus and autoimmune thyroid disorders like Hashimoto’s.
The common factors that unite them is that all of them remain in the body forever, they can remain dormant for years and then get reawakened (often by stress or stressful events) and they all have the potential to do harm to the brain because the herpes virus has an affinity to nerve tissue.
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections are very common worldwide. HSV-1 is the main cause of herpes infections on the mouth and lips, including cold sores and fever blisters. It is transmitted orally (through kissing or sharing drinking glasses and utensils). HSV-1 can also cause genital herpes, although HSV-2 is the main cause of genital herpes.
HSV-2 is spread through sexual contact. You may be infected with HSV-1 or HSV-2 but not show any symptoms. Often symptoms are triggered by exposure to the sun, fever, menstruation, emotional stress, a weakened immune system, or an illness (like Hashimoto’s).
While most herpes infections do not cause serious complications, infections in infants and in people with weakened immune systems, or herpes infections that affect the eyes, can be life threatening. In addition, herpes virus attack nerves so they can do damage to the brain by attacking the ganglia.
In fact, Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) is an acute or subacute illness that causes both general and focal signs of cerebral dysfunction. Brain infection is thought to occur by means of direct neuronal transmission of the virus from a peripheral site to the brain via the trigeminal or olfactory nerve. The exact pathway is unclear, and factors that precipitate HSE are unknown.
Epstein-Barr is the virus that causes mononucleosis and is part of the herpes family. Even if you didn’t come down with it in high school or college, you were very likely infected with it, an estimated 95% of US adults have been infected with this virus.
It can present without any symptoms and has been linked to both Hashimoto’s and Graves’ disease. In my own patient population about 80% of the people I have worked have been diagnosed with EBV.
I surveyed our Facebook group and asked how many also had the Epstein Barr virus. Of the 131 (and counting) people with Hashimoto’s who responded 85% were aware that they had been exposed to the Epstein Barr virus.
This is obviously not a rigorous study, but it does show you just how prevalent this infection is in this patient population.
It has also been linked to other autoimmune diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, and Sjogren’s syndrome. In addition, both fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome are also linked to EBV.
Epstein Barr can also lead to inflammation of the brain (viral encephalitis). This is a serious concern with Hashimoto’s because it can also have a profound impact on the brain and this inflammation has the potential to lead to neurodegeneration and cognitive decline.
Most people infected with CMV do not have any symptoms. Acute CMV infection can cause mono-like symptoms such as fever, enlarged lymph nodes, sore throat, muscle aches, loss of appetite and fatigue.
In people with compromised immune function, CMV infections can attack different organs and systems in the body and can lead to blurred vision and even blindness (CMV retinitis), lung infection, diarrhea, inflammation of the liver, inflammation of the brain (encephalitis). In more severe cases it can lead to behavioral changes, seizures and coma (again highlighting the impact of the virus on the brain).
It is not believed that the herpes viruses directly cause autoimmune disease. But they do play a part in it’s initial onset and progression and they can certainly make symptoms more intense and be a barrier to healing and feeling better.
There are many reasons for this and I will discuss them in a moment, but first let’s take a look at antigens and antibodies so that you can understand how these viruses cause problems in the body.
Antigens Trigger an Immune Response, Antibodies Bind to Antigens
An antigen is a substance that produces an immune response. So for example, foreign substances such as chemicals, bacteria, or viruses are all considered antigens. Foods can also be seen as antigens by the immune system.
However, an antigen can also be produced inside of the body, and even the tissue cells can be considered to be an antigen at times, which is what happens with autoimmune conditions such as Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s.
An antibody is a protein which is produced by the immune system, and this antibody binds to a specific antigen. Once the antibody binds to the antigen other immune system cells (i.e. macrophages) attempt to engulf and destroy the antigen.
There are number of theories about the different mechanisms that can lead viruses to trigger autoimmune disease. A couple examples are: direct bystander activation, and molecular mimicry.
Direct bystander activation: This describes an indirect or non-specific activation of autoimmune cells caused by the inflammatory environment present during infection. Think of this as being in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like being caught in a drive by shooting.
In this case, one part of the immune system becomes activated and this turns on other parts which can kill both viral-infected cells, and healthy cells as well.
So, for example, virus-specific T cells might migrate to the areas of a viral infection, and when these T cells encounter virus infected cells they sound the alarm and release immune proteins (called cytokines), which not only kill the infected cells, but also leads to “bystander killing” of other healthy cells nearby.
Molecular mimicry: This is a process where a foreign antigen shares an amino acid sequence or has a similar structure to self-antigens. So for example, a certain virus can have an amino acid sequence that is very similar to the amino acid sequence of human cells.
This can result not only in the production of antibodies against the virus, but can also lead to auto-antibodies against the human cells due to the similarities in the proteins.
Something else that can occur is that viral fragments can attach to human tissue and result in a hybrid that is part virus and part human and this can also be attacked by the immune system.
The mechanisms mentioned above really the end of a series of potential steps that lead to autoimmunity. There are some interesting theories about how this happens. This matters because if we can figure out how it is happening, it can help us figure out what how to treat it.
And what’s also interesting is that this same process takes place with all herpes viruses, it’s not unique to the ones that we’re looking at as examples.
It Starts with CD8+ T-cells
CD8+ T-cells are a kind of cell which inhibits viruses. Basically, once activated they kill bad cells.
Cells infected with the virus are used to make more virus.
Cells which viruses have infected are one example. These cells will be used by the virus to make more virus, so they must be killed by the immune system.
Having a deficiency of them is a common characteristic of virtually every chronic autoimmune disease (including: multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren’s syndrome, systemic sclerosis, dermatomyositis, primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, psoriasis, vitiligo, bullous pemphigoid, alopecia areata, idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, type 1 diabetes mellitus, Graves’ disease, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, myasthenia gravis, IgA nephropathy, membranous nephropathy, and pernicious anaemia).
Some scientists believe that this CD8+ T-cell deficiency may be partially responsible for the formation of these chronic autoimmune diseases, as well. And one reason is that they aren’t able to control the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) or other herpes infection.
If EBV isn’t controlled, it can cause all kinds of problems in the body. When EBV infects B cells it can make them “auto-reactive”, which means its products (antibodies) target our own tissues.
According to a paper called “CD8+ T-Cell Deficiency, Epstein-Barr Virus Infection, Vitamin D Deficiency, and Steps to Autoimmunity: A Unifying Hypothesis” by Michael P. Pender, one theory is that autoimmunity occurs in the following steps:
1. First you have CD8+ T-cell deficiency – this has a genetic component.
2. Then, EBV (or other herpes virus) infection and spread of EBV because of CD8+ T-cell deficiency (there aren’t enough of these cells to kill these virus infected cells).
3. Increased antibodies against EBV (kind of like a second line of defense), your body responds and tries to bring in more help.
4. EBV infects a specific organ – and, particularly, B Cells in that organ. This corrupts the B cells to attack our own tissue. (One theory is that since viruses and bacteria have proteins similar to our own proteins, we mistakenly attack our own proteins. This confusion by our immune system is the ‘molecular mimicry’ I described above.)
5. B Cells proliferate in the infected organ (your antibody numbers increase)
6. T cells are drawn into the organ and also attack our tissue. Antibodies signal the attackers.
7. Development of ‘structures’ in the target organ, which causes B cells to attack our tissues. (This is dependent on Th17 cells ) This process repeats and builds on itself.
Some common factors that push autoimmunity are:
Low Vitamin D
High Estrogen
High Chronic Stress
Low Vitamin D
Vitamin D and sunlight are very important for CD8+ T cells production, which may explain why countries that get less sunlight have a higher occurrence of autoimmunity. People with Hashimoto’s commonly have low Vitamin D levels.
High Estrogen
Estrogen also decreases CD8+ T cells, which may explain the higher incidence of autoimmunity in females. Women with estrogen dominance and/or impairment of detoxification pathways in the liver may have too much circulating estrogen and this can cause problems with the immune system.
High Chronic Stress: High Cortisol/Low Pregnanolone
Chronic stress can cause reactivation of EBV, probably by downgrading the TH1 immune response. (TH1 are T helper cells that sound the alarm and also induce destruction. They are like the elite soldiers of the immune system.)
When you have chronic stress, your body keeps pumping out cortisol. Cortisol is made from cholesterol and a hormone that helps make cortisol is known as pregnenolone.
Pregnenolone is a neurosteroid and is important in the creation of other hormones like cortisol.
When your body is under constant stress (which is the state of living with an autoimmune disease like Hashimoto’s) and needs to keep producing more and more cortisol something called the “pregnenolone steal” can happen.
This is where cortisol is ‘stealing’ or diverting pregnenolone for cortisol production and depleting it. When pregnenolone is depleted, there will, of course, be less of it to produce more cortisol in the future.
Viruses Hijack the Mevalonate Pathway
When a viral infection becomes active it takes control over what’s known as the “mevalonate pathway.” Viruses use this pathway to make their protective outer coats.
In answer to this, your body makes interferon, which shuts down the mevalonate pathway, which in turn suppresses the virus. However, inhibiting this pathway may also lead to a reduction in synthesis of pregnenolone and Co-enzyme Q10 (which also may be depleted in Hashimoto’s).
One of the most common viruses that causes this pathway to be inhibited is Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV).
There’s also another problem.
When you’re under high stress the body releases cortisol, which suppresses your immune system.
Specifically, the TH1 (or T Helper 1) part of the immune system is suppressed by chronic stress. This aspect of the immune system (Th1) protects us from viral reactivation. Cells and proteins in this family sound the alarm and kill viruses.
When this part of the immune system is suppressed, viral infections can then reactivate- including EBV, herpes and a host of other viruses.
What’s really interesting about this is that Hashimoto’s was originally thought to be a TH-1 dominant disease and some people with Hashimoto’s do have TH-1 dominance.
And here’s where it gets tricky. If you stimulate TH-1, then you may risk firing up the part of the immune system that is destroying your thyroid. So this requires some real skill in dealing with with both Hashimoto’s and EBV or other herpes viruses at the same time.
There are some other things that EBV can cause problems with and these are really significant because they are also common problems with Hashimoto’s.
EBV can cause problems with serotonin, methylation, and can compromise the blood brain barrier and, as we have already seen, lead to neurodegeneration.
This is really interesting because with Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism, serotonin can also become depleted. This one of the reasons why some people with Hashimoto’s experience depression and a lack of motivation and enjoyment in things. So the combination of Hashimoto’s and EBV can lead to some serious emotional issues.
Methylation issues are also quite common with Hashimoto’s and some people have MTHFR gene mutations which can exacerbate this problem. In addition, dominance of the TH1 part of the immune system can lead to methylation problems, as well.
And, finally leaky gut and intestinal permeability are the hallmark of virtually all autoimmune diseases and this is sometimes the sign of a larger systemic problem involving all the barrier systems of the body.
The gut and the brain are very closely related and the same proteins that protect the barrier of the intestines also line the blood brain barrier. When one area is compromised the other can be as well.
So, the combination of EBV and Hashimoto’s certainly has all the ingredients of a potent vicious cycle that can create a downward spiral of difficult to resolve physical and psychological health problems.
Treating both EBV (and other herpes viruses) and Hashimoto’s at the same time can be tricky because herbs and supplements that are known to prevent reactivation of the virus can also stimulate parts of the immune system.
And if these parts of the immune system are causing tissue destruction and flare ups of your symptoms, then you are simply trading problems. And this approach may actually make matters worse.
So, let’s take a look at some obvious and less obvious treatment strategies that can keep EBV or other viruses at bay and not stoke the fires of autoimmunity.
One of the most important treatments for EBV (and other herpes viruses) is having stress relieving hobbies. Many people are aware of the destructive power of stress, but it always amazes me how little they are willing to do about it.
If you have Hashimoto’s and EBV and you don’t do things to reduce stress daily, you are setting yourself up for failure. It’s like walking into oncoming traffic and expecting not to be hit by a car or truck. You are going to be in a world of hurt if you don’t have daily habits for reducing stress.
These include meditation, yoga, qi gong, music, art, relaxation, massage, acupuncture, spa days, mineral baths, etc. These are not luxuries, they are necessities for someone living with Hashimoto’s and EBV.
I’m giving you permission to indulge yourself. If you need a note from your doctor for this, email me and I’ll be happy to write one for you. 🙂
Another thing to be conscious of are foods and supplements that can feed and encourage the herpes virus. The most common are foods that are low in lysine and high in arginine.
These include:
• chocolate
• coconut (coconut oil is fine since it has no amino acids)
• seeds and nuts
• orange juice
• wheat products and products containing gluten
• oats
• lentils
• protein supplements: casein, the protein found in milk may also increase arginine levels.
• gelatin
What’s interesting to note here is that some of these foods are foods we commonly avoid with Hashimoto’s while others are staples of the Paleo and Autoimmune Paleo diets. (This emphasizes the importance of being flexible and of the highly individualized nature of the problem.)
Highly acidic foods and those laden with chemicals can also exacerbate viral infections and lead to outbreaks.
• alcohol
• caffeine
• all junk food
• too much red meat
• processed/white flour products
• food additives
• artificial sweeteners.
These are all also foods that can exacerbate your Hashimoto’s. So there’s no love lost here. Caffeine can potentiate or increase the utilization of arginine so that should be done in moderation.
There are several different strategies for treating EBV and other herpes viruses. Novice herbalists will often throw lots of immune stimulating herbs at the problem like astragalus, ashwaganda and medicinal mushrooms like maitake and reishi.
These are great herbs, but can be a really bad idea for some people with autoimmune disease.
Instead a more targeted approach of attacking the virus and strengthening different parts of the immune system with a more nuanced approach is a much, much better idea. The Chinese Herbal Materia Medica is full of herbs that can accomplish these tasks beautifully.
Here are some herbs that specifically attack EBV and other herpes viruses:
Anti-EBV Herbs:
Angelica sinensis, chrysanthemum, citrus, lithosperum, milletia, paedria, picrorhiza
Anti-Cytomegalovirus:
Isatis root, baphicacanthes, cnidium, lithosperum, forsythia, gardenia, chrysanthemum, vitex, dandelion, epimedium, lonicera
Anti-Herpes Herbs:
Belamcanda, clove, crataegous, dandelion, epimedium, houttuynia, inula, lonicera, portulaca, prunella, rhubarb, salvia, scrophularia
It’s important to note that many of these herbs have multiple pharmacological properties and can therefore be used to accomplish more than one thing if combined properly.
It’s important to strengthen the immune system to treat these herpes viruses, as well, but it must be done carefully.
As we saw before, Vitamin D is important for strengthening CD8+ T cells, as is glutathione and superoxide dismutase, EPA and DHA.
Turmeric is helpful because of it’s anti-inflammatory properties.
Also, there are couple of essential oils that I have found are very effective for first attacking the virus and, then healing the sores.
Ravensara is an excellent anti-viral oil that may applied topically directly on the lesions. Heliochrysum is an oil that helps regenerate flesh and can help to heal the sores more quickly.
My partner, Olesia Farberov makes a fantastic herbal salve with some of Chinese herbs mentioned above and both these essential oils called The Healer.
The Healer, made with anti-herpes herbs and essential oils
This is an absolute must for your purse, pocket and medicine cabinet. I prescribe it to all of my patients with herpes and use it myself because it just plain works.
Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements:
Research has shown that a daily intake of at least 1250 mg of lysine supplements can help control herpes outbreaks.
Zinc, Vitamin C and B vitamins may also be helpful.
Other supplements that can help increase CB8+ cells include:
N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC), butyrate, andrographis, and gynostemma
Western Medication
One area where I actually advocate using Western pharmaceutical drugs is in the treatment of these viruses. Acyclovir is a potent anti-viral and for some people who have really stubborn hard to treat outbreaks, it can be an effective tool in your arsenal.
Another drug to consider is Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN). It has the ability to modulate immune function and calm physiological stress. It can also be effective in helping the body to deal with the herpes virus.
At the end of the day, the reality is that these viruses are here to stay. They are remarkably adaptable and persistent and they have there own insidious intelligence.
We can not hope to defeat them, we have to accept them, live with them and adapt our lives to them. And the good news is, the most effective treatments for them like stress relieving hobbies and a healthy diet are also important ingredients in our long term health, happiness and well being.
Notes from Studying with Dr. M.M. Van Benschoten, O.M.D.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24008857: herpes and Hashimoto’s 3 case studies
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2013/867389/: Role of herpes 6 as a trigger for autoimmune thyroid disease
http://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/viewFile/22169789/645: Role of viruses in Autoimmune disease
http://www.virologyj.com/content/6/1/5: Viruses and thyroiditis
http://www.dana.org/Media/GrantsDetails.aspx?id=38800: herpes and MS
https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/herpes-simplex-virus: good general info on herpes
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654877/ : Viruses and thyroiditis
http://www.cellandbioscience.com/content/1/1/24 Affects of thyroid hormone on HSV-1 gene regulation
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/health.2013.58162 Large cohort on TH levels and HSV 1 activation
EBV and Hashimoto’s
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8750577: Elevated Epstein Barr titers in AIT
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20404456: Immune responses to EBV in AITD patients
http://www.bioline.org.br/request?mb10037: EBV activation in AID patients
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ad/2012/189096/: Hypothesis of how this all happens
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16055563 Serotonin and EBV
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21289059 EBV and methylation
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20826008 EBV and the blood brain barrier
Infections and Autoimmune disease:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2665673/ role of infections in AID
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1360274/ Molecular mimicry
http://www.direct-ms.org/sites/default/files/FujinamivirusMS.pdf
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-10-scientists-link-viral-infection-autoimmune.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12699597 T3 autoantibodies can cause latent EBV activation!
Molecular mimicry
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3266166/
Neurological impact of herpes:
http://www.nature.com/nrneurol/journal/v3/n2/full/ncpneuro0401.html Neurological impact of herpes
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3437531/ Herpes infections in the CNS
http://www.herpes.org/whitepaper-the-psychological-effects-of-herpes/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4175921/ Anxiety and depression and viral disease
http://medind.nic.in/daa/t12/i1/daat12i1p188.pdf Viral infections and depression
http://www.naturalendocrinesolutions.com/articles/which-viruses-can-trigger-thyroid-autoimmunity/ Good descriptions and solutions
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11572634 virus induced autoimmunity
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22095454 molecular mimicry as autoimmune intitiation
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25445494 B cell epitope spreading
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11140461 Epitope spreading
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1360274/ Bystander activation
http://justherpes.com/facts/foods-to-avoid-with-herpes-diet/ Herpes food
With Hashimoto’s: How Much Is Too Much?
People often ask me about exercise. What’s the best kind of exercise for Hashimoto’s?
There are 2 types and both can be beneficial. But the real key is not to overdo it. If you do too much you defeat the purpose of exercise and you wind up doing more harm than good.
The first type is simple and slow.
Walking, slow jogging, slow cycling or other exercises like yoga, tai chi or qigong that involve endurance can support your adrenals. This type of exercise can decrease cortisol, help with blood flow and circulation and normalize blood pressure.
Something like this should be part of your routine a few times a week.
The second type involves high intensity for short duration. This should also be part of the mix.
According to research, the optimal exercise level to achieve all the health benefits described above is high intensity: when doing this you will:
* Break a sweat after 3-5 minutes
* Breathe deeply and rapidly
* Only talk in short phrases while you are doing this.
You want to go hard enough to achieve 70% or greater of your maximum heart rate. This can be calculated by this simple equation: 220 – your age in years = your maximum heart rate.
There is a fine line between the right amount of exercise which can really improve health and too much which can actually cause more health problems.
The key point is this: The more intense the exercise, the greater the potential for health benefits that include everything mentioned above, but also the greater risk of doing too much and this results in the loss of all those benefits.
This is especially true if you suffer from an autoimmune disease like Hashimoto’s because you may not be able to exercise like a normal person and you may reach the threshold of maximum benefit sooner than people who do not have this condition.
So the best thing to do is to start slow and gradually build. And the objective is not to “feel the burn” or “pain is gain”. You are in enough pain. The object is to feel better, feel energized and feel the beneficial effects of exercise. If you are wiped out after your workout, you’ve gone too far.
Start small and only increase when you feel like what you are doing is physically not demanding enough. A high intensity workout can be beneficial if you doing as little as 5 minutes per day. Err on the side of too little, if you’re not sure.
Here’s a longer blog post that really goes into detail and provides a great 7 minute high intensity work out. Check it out and try it!
Today’s health tip is about thyroid hormone resistance. This is a common cause of feeling like crap because when this happens in your body, the cells aren’t absorbing and utilizing thyroid hormone.
So you might be taking thyroid hormone and your lab work might all look great, but you still feel like they just scraped you off the tires of a Greyhound bus.
It’s as if thyroid hormone is knocking on the cell’s door and the cells are saying,
“I hear you knocking but you cain’t come in.”
“Please let me in? Please, please, please, please?” says thyroid hormone.
“I’d like to, really I would, but no.” answers the cells.
What is their problem?
Well, there are lots of possible reasons for this. Let’s focus on 1 today:
Inflammation suppresses the hypothalamic-Pituitary-Thyroid axis, by reducing the body’s available stores of TSH , T4, and T3.
The pituitary/hypothalamus also regulates many other hormones, including sex hormones; therefore, taking thyroid hormone medication may help some symptoms of hypothyroidism, but will not help all symptoms (since the hormone supplementation does not do anything if the cause is the pituitary or hypothalamus).
Inflammation can also reduce the number and sensitivity of thyroid hormone receptors throughout the body. All thyroid hormone (in the form of T3) has to be able to get into the body’s cells in order to have an effect;
if there are not enough cells, or they are not sensitive enough, it doesn’t matter how many thyroid meds you take.
Inflammation also decreases conversion of T4 to T3. Ninety percent of the thyroid hormone produced by the body is in the form of T4, but much of that has to be converted into T3 to be used.
Which is why T4 thyroid medications are not a great idea–you may end up taking more and more, and you’ll definitely get _effects_ from them, but not necessarily the benefits that your body would receive if it were able to convert T4 into T3 and utilize it to begin with.
Basically: Hashimoto’s is an inflammatory condition, and you must address inflammation in order to heal.
This begs the question: How do we address inflammation?
By any means necessary, if you have Hashimoto’s this should be your job, hobby, passion and obsession 24/7, 365.
Here are some things you can do:
1. Optimize vitamin D levels in the blood via supplementation with D3. Inflammation inhibits the body’s ability to convert Vit. D from the sun, and of course in people with Hashimoto’s, inflammation is everywhere.
2. Get to know and love glutathione, since this helps prevent oxidative damage. Autoimmunity and stress depletes the body’s stores of glutathione. (This can be challenging and there’s more to this than simple supplementation…more on this to come.)
3. Fatty acid balance is also very important. Omega-six fats promote inflammation, and omega-3 fats are anti-inflammatory. The best way to get omega-3s is to eat a lb. of fatty fish (salmon, makerel, sardines, halibut, herring) per week.
Of course, you have to weight this with all the chemical toxins in fish. Smaller fish like sardines, generally have less.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, let me repeat. Reducing inflammation is key for overall healing. And STRESS AND LEAKY GUT are also the all stars of the Professional Inflammation League (The P.I.L.).
People who find the most success in healing their healing their Hashimoto’s are the ones who deal with both of these things.
Leaky gut is to inflammation what money is to politicians. It’s a license to ill, people.
And a lot of people don’t really take the impact that stress has on their health seriously. For people with autoimmune disease, research has shown that over 80% experienced a very stressful event prior to its onset.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18190880