Disorders involving the thyroid are on the rise in the US. There are many factors involved for this but the key one centers around an area you probably would not expect. So, what is this area? It is the Western physician. You, like most Americans, are probably thinking that there is now way our “infallible” physician can be the problem with the trend of increasing thyroid cases in the US. Well, they are.

Misdiagnosing and not being truly educated about the source of the thyroid problems is the main issue with Western physicians. For instance, many times a doctor will just prescribe a generic medication if they see thyroid hormone levels that are low. Most Western physicians are not trained to appropriately assess the reason behind the low levels.

They just assume that the thyroid gland isn’t functioning. Thus, they prescribe a medication that assists in this production. However, there are times when the hormone levels are still low even after taking the medication. The patient may even exhibit symptoms that are worse than before taking the medication.

Without getting overly technical, the thyroid system, functions according to a negative feedback loop. This involves the hypothalamus, which secretes hormones that stimulates the pituitary gland to secrete hormones that stimulate the thyroid gland to secrete the needed T4 that stimulates the production of T3 from the liver or gut that flows in the bloodstream.

A blood test will give the levels of T4/T3 in the bloodstream. Most Western physicians just look at these levels without finding out where the true source of, let’s say, low T3 levels is. It the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland or the thyroid gland that is malfunctioning? Most doctors will not take the time to delve further into the true origin of the thyroid problem and, as stated, just prescribe generic medications.