The Body's Traffic Cop

The article is misleading - it states that once on thyroid medication, you will be on it for life - however, the information presented on post partum thyroiditis at the American Thyroid website contraindicates the authors claims. If you have post partum thyroiditis, it is recommended that your doctor attempt to wean you off of it within 12-18 months post delivery, as post partum thyroiditis often corrects itself. You would not need additional synthetic hormone if your body has now returned to normal. The authors did do a good job trying to get the word out about the importance of paying attention to your thyroid, and that is very important, as it's often overlooked as the cause of many health problems.

Fluoride linked to Thyroid Damage

There is clear evidence that small amounts of fluoride, at or near levels added to U.S. water supplies, present potential risks to the thyroid gland, according to the National Research Council???s (NRC) first-ever published review of the fluoride/thyroid literature.(A)

Fluoride, in the form of silicofluorides, injected into 2/3 of U.S. public water supplies, ostensibly to reduce tooth decay, was never safety-tested.(B)

???Many Americans are exposed to fluoride in the ranges associated with thyroid effects, especially for people with iodine deficiency,??? says Kathleen Thiessen, PhD, co-author of the government-sponsored NRC report. ???The recent decline in iodine intake in the U.S could contribute to increased toxicity of fluoride for some individuals,??? says Thiessen.

???A low level of thyroid hormone can increase the risk of cardiac disease, high cholesterol, depression and, in pregnant woman, decreased intelligence of offspring,??? said Thiessen.(C)

Common thyroid symptoms include fatigue, weight gain, constipation, fuzzy thinking, low blood pressure, fluid retention, depression, body pain, slow reflexes, and more. It???s estimated that 59 million Americans have thyroid conditions.(D)

Robert Carton, PhD, an environmental scientist who worked for over 30 years for the U.S. government including managing risk assessments on high priority toxic chemicals, says ???fluoride has detrimental effects on the thyroid gland of healthy males at 3.5 mg a day. With iodine deficiency, the effect level drops to 0.7 milligrams/day for an average male.???(E) (1.0 mg/L fluoride is in most water supplies)

Among many others, the NRC Report cites human studies which show

- fluoride concentrations in thyroids exceeding that found in other soft tissues except kidney

- an association between endemic goiter and fluoride exposure or enamel fluorosis in human populations

- fluoride adversely affects thyroid and parathyroid hormones, which affect bone health

???If you have a thyroid problem, avoiding fluoride may be a good preventive health measure for you,??? writes Drs??? Richard and Karilee Shames in ???Thyroid Power.???(F).

Scientific American quotes John Doull, professor emeritus of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Kansas Medical Center, who chaired the NRC committee , ???The thyroid changes do worry me.???

References: http://groups.google.com/group/Fluoridation-News-Releases/browse_thread/thread/14b517a5be6aa97e/4f55c9149e89d652?lnk=gst&q=thyroid#4f55c9149e89d652

as a woman who was diagnosed with a SEVERE case of hasimoto's 2 years ago i can't stress enough the importance of this simple test. i was misdiagnosed many times over the course or 18 years. anger problems, laziness and lack of exercise, depression, everything but a thyroid test. i'm luck i'm alive. i couldn't walk, i drooled, my hair fell out, i put on 50 pounds. i thought i had a stroke. get tested!!! if a doctor dismisses your request, get a new one.