Get accurate testing to protect your health.
Ready for spring cleaning? Keep in mind that ordinary house dust contains flame retardants and other toxins that can disrupt hormone health.
In women, underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) has also been linked to pesticides and plasticizers in house dust, while lowering sperm concentrations in men. Overall, though, thyroid problems are more common in women.
Certain insecticides—aldrine, DDT (still found in the environment despite having been banned), and lindane—can damage women’s thyroid function—even if they are only married to men who used these toxins, recent research in the American Journal of Epidemiology reports.
Maneb/mancozeb—an antifungal used on strawberries, tomatoes, and other fruits and veggies—ups a woman’s risk for both overactive (hyperthyroidism) and underactive thyroid more than two-fold. And the cancer-causing weed killer paraquat, found on food and in water, almost doubles women’s risk for underactive thyroid—with accompanying weight gain.
Even more frightening, millions of children drink fruit juices containing a harmful chemical, antimony, that leaches from PET plastics—and can be lethal in large doses. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen found antimony levels in fruit drinks and juices in plastic bottles at levels 2.5 times higher than what’s considered safe in tap water!
Dr. Ann Louise’s Take:
For whatever reason, women are more susceptible to thyroid imbalances than men.
I’m convinced that thyroid damage is an overlooked factor in America’s obesity epidemic—at least for women and children! While 10% of women in this country have diagnosed thyroid problems, I believe it’s much higher—at least 20% of postmenopausal women, perhaps even closer to 40% in some populations.
For example, rates of thyroid cancer are at a record high around Philadelphia. “This area has the greatest concentration of nuclear reactors in the United States,” says Joseph J. Mangano, who heads the Radiation and Public Health Project. He suspects 7 nuclear plants in a 90-mile radius—plus the fast-growing use of CT scans and other medical and dental radiation—help explain this “epidemic of thyroid cancer.”
Found in food and water contaminated by rocket fuel as well as some medicines used to treat thyroid gland disorders, perchlorate is another thyroid disrupter. Of particular concern to the developing fetus and infant whose neurological development depends on adequate iodine intake, perchlorate is a common environmental toxin today.
Get Accurate Testing
When everything from perchlorate to radiation can impact thyroid function, it’s critical to assess thyroid health accurately. New findings from the long-term Framingham Study link heart contractility with subclinical (or undiagnosed) thyroid dysfunction in women. A new Danish study also suggests that subclinical thyroid problems can impact mitochondria that provide energy at the cellular level.
Part of the reason for under-diagnosis is that physicians can’t agree on what constitutes normal thyroid levels. In addition, blood tests for circulating levels of thyroid hormones (TSH, T3, T4) aren’t always as accurate as Tissue Mineral Analysis (TMA).
In over 20 years working with TMA, I’ve found it a particularly reliable guide to thyroid status, especially for personalizing a supplement program for effective weight loss. When you send in a sample of hair for analysis, you also obtain levels of stored minerals, including copper and zinc that impact thyroid function. An Iodine Loading Test will assess your bioavailable iodine levels.
Safe Spring Cleaning
Try these easy ways to clean green:
• Use a damp cloth to dust, so that you don’t simply spread this toxin-laden substance around.
• Opt for bare floors and damp mop them frequently. Ventilate your home while spring cleaning.
• Throughout the year, leave your shoes at the door, instead of tracking in pesticides and other toxins in dirt.
• Choose healing essential oils and diffusers instead of commercial air fresheners, which interact with ozone to create airborne formaldehyde that’s been linked to thyroid problems in laboratory research.
Sources:
Fat Flush for Life
The Gut Flush Plan
www.environmentreport.org/story.php?story_id=4918
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20210671
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20194068
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20197672
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20178065
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20194068
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20172477
https://thyroid.about.com/b/2010/03/11/thyroid-ups-downs-yadegaran-holtorf.htm
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es9014019
https://weepnews.blogspot.com/2009/08/thyroid-cancer-increase-puzzles-experts.html
