I’m still a bit at a loss for the specific thesis you’re trying to sell. Or at least test. In your abstract, you’re not giving me relevant facts to a specific thesis or conjecture.
Let me try. Mine is turning into a summary more than an abstract to more easily include elements of your story.
Here goes:
Pre 1900 there was a “tiredness” disease called neurasthenia. People died. On dissection, a doctor noticed that the cadavers had shrunken thyroid glands. “Hey, maybe if I chopped up pig’s thyroids and give it to them, it would help.” And it did. But people didn’t really know what was going on. Armour (as in Armour ham) was slaughtering lots of pigs, so standardized the generation of pig thyroids in a desiccated form, known today as Armour Thyroid, or more generically from all manufactures as natural desiccated thyroid (NDT).
So, science marches on, and after WWII people investigated what was going on with NDT and neurasthenia and we learned that the thyroid gland produces hormones T3 and T4 from a TSH stimulus from the pituitary, from a TRH signal from the hypothalamus, which is controlled through a negative feedback loop by T3 and T4 levels in the blood.
And, whaddya know? People with neurasthenia generally have low T3 and T4 levels, which are increased when they take NDT, and that increase is associated with their recovery. This should not be surprising, because T3 and T4 is actually in NDT.
From their functional relation, TSH can serve as a proxy for T3 and T4 levels if the hypothalamus and pituitary are functioning properly, and the first line test for thyroid issues became to test TSH levels. If high, then it is presumed the patient does not have sufficient levels of T3 and T4 in their blood stream to keep TSH levels lower through negative feedback.
Observation: CFS and FM and Hypothyroidism have similar symptoms. Conjecture: Maybe CFS and FM would be cured by NDT, even when TSH is in “normal” levels. Question: Does anyone know if this has been tested?
I’m still a bit at a loss for the specific thesis you’re trying to sell. Or at least test. In your abstract, you’re not giving me relevant facts to a specific thesis or conjecture.
Let me try. Mine is turning into a summary more than an abstract to more easily include elements of your story.
Here goes:
Pre 1900 there was a “tiredness” disease called neurasthenia. People died. On dissection, a doctor noticed that the cadavers had shrunken thyroid glands. “Hey, maybe if I chopped up pig’s thyroids and give it to them, it would help.” And it did. But people didn’t really know what was going on. Armour (as in Armour ham) was slaughtering lots of pigs, so standardized the generation of pig thyroids in a desiccated form, known today as Armour Thyroid, or more generically from all manufactures as natural desiccated thyroid (NDT).
So, science marches on, and after WWII people investigated what was going on with NDT and neurasthenia and we learned that the thyroid gland produces hormones T3 and T4 from a TSH stimulus from the pituitary, from a TRH signal from the hypothalamus, which is controlled through a negative feedback loop by T3 and T4 levels in the blood.
And, whaddya know? People with neurasthenia generally have low T3 and T4 levels, which are increased when they take NDT, and that increase is associated with their recovery. This should not be surprising, because T3 and T4 is actually in NDT.
From their functional relation, TSH can serve as a proxy for T3 and T4 levels if the hypothalamus and pituitary are functioning properly, and the first line test for thyroid issues became to test TSH levels. If high, then it is presumed the patient does not have sufficient levels of T3 and T4 in their blood stream to keep TSH levels lower through negative feedback.
Observation: CFS and FM and Hypothyroidism have similar symptoms.
Conjecture: Maybe CFS and FM would be cured by NDT, even when TSH is in “normal” levels.
Question: Does anyone know if this has been tested?
Dan, this post was a question, not a thesis. The thesis I am now trying to promote is ‘there are type 2 versions of endocrine disorders, and this is very important indeed if it is true’. See follow up post: http://lesswrong.com/lw/nbm/thyroid_hormones_chronic_fatigue_and_fibromyalgia/