Adrenal health
How can I be sure my symptoms aren’t related to a thyroid imbalance?
Hormones are the body’s chemical messengers, carrying instructions from the
brain and endocrine glands (like the adrenals and the thyroid) to other parts of
the body. As “watchdog” organs of the endocrine system, the adrenal
and thyroid glands are tightly linked. When functioning well, they support one another,
but dysfunctional messaging between the two is disruptive to both organ systems,
and adrenal imbalance can often be at the root of thyroid imbalance. So your
body’s symptoms may indeed be related to a thyroid imbalance, though
resolving the adrenal imbalance will certainly help.
Cortisol is one of several hormones released by your adrenals when you
are under stress. When cortisol levels are chronically elevated, this stress hormone,
as well as the hormone from the hypothalamus that stimulates it (corticotrophin-releasing
hormone, or CRH) can inhibit yet another hormone, called TSH (thyroid-stimulating
hormone). Cortisol also can interfere with the conversion of the thyroid
hormone T4 into T3. T3 plays a major role in regulating metabolic activity in your
body, and a lack of it can cause fatigue and additional symptoms.
So when you take care to support adrenal balance, your stress hormone levels will
even out, which can help restore better function to the thyroid as well. One of
the basic principles of functional medicine is that there are web-like interconnections
between all of our internal organs and systems. This continuum can be disturbed
along multiple pathways, which can lead to imbalance and disease, but those same
multiple paths can provide many mechanisms for healing as well.
To learn more about how stress impairs both the thyroid and the adrenals, read our
article on hypothyroidism and menopause
— and take a look at the illustration that shows how messaging between the
two can lead to either healthy or unhealthy responses.
There can be many underlying causes of thyroid imbalance, and it is best to discuss
your situation with a trusted healthcare practitioner. See our other articles on
thyroid health to learn more.
Return to:
|
Do you want to:
Need to know more before you order?
|
Comment on this article:
Last Modified Date: 04/15/2011