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Thyroid And Adrenal Fatigue Test
The thyroid and adrenal glands are like two horses pulling a wagon – one cannot pull without the other in balance.
Thyroid
The thyroid is a small butterfly-shaped gland that sits behind and below the Adam’s apple. A wide range of factors from hormone imbalances to mineral deficiencies and environmental pollutants can interfere with thyroid production, leading to health problems.
The American Thyroid Association estimates that as many as 60% of people with thyroid disease are not aware of it. Statistics show that women are seven times more likely than men to develop thyroid problems, facing as much as a one in five chance of developing a problem particularly during the peri-menopause years when hormones start to fluctuate.
Hypothyroidism
- Weight gain or inability to lose weight despite exercise and diet
- Feeling cold all the time (when others don’t)
- Low energy and stamina, especially in the evening
- Memory lapses or slow/fuzzy thinking
- Dry, thinning, itchy skin
- Dry or brittle hair and nails
- Hair loss
- Irregular bowel habits
- Menstrual irregularities
Hyperthyoroidism
- Sudden or significant weight loss
- Rapid or irregular heartbeat
- Sweating
- Nervousness or irritability
- Weight loss
- Fatigue
- Heart palpitations
- Excess sweating
- Trouble sleeping
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Increased frequency of bowels
While many practices only look at TSH and T4 to assess thyroid function, we feel that it is important to asses ALL levels of key thyroid hormones as they can indicate whether there is a thyroid imbalance. These include:
- TSH – produced by the pituitary gland, TSH acts on the thyroid gland to stimulate production of the thyroid hormone thyroxine (T4).
- Free T4 – Thyroxine – the predominant hormone produced by the thyroid gland, T4 is converted to its active form, T3, within cells.
- Total T4 – Thyroxine – Total T4 includes both free T4 and protein-bound T4, and is an indicator of the thyroid gland’s ability to synthesize, process and release T4 into the bloodstream.
- Free T3 – Triiodothyronine – T3 is the active thyroid hormone that regulates the metabolic activity of cells.
- TPOab – Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies – Thyroid peroxidase is an enzyme involved in thyroid hormone production. The body produces antibodies, including TPOab, that attack the thyroid gland in autoimmune thyroiditis and Hashimoto’s. Testing TPOab levels can diagnose these conditions.
- Tgbn – Thyroglobulin – a protein rich in tyrosine, the residues of which when bound to iodine become the building blocks of T3 and T4. If iodine levels are low, thyroglobulin accumulates, thus high levels indicate insufficient iodine for healthy thyroid function.
Adrenals
The adrenal glands, otherwise known as the “stress glands,” enable our bodies to cope with stress and survive. Shaped like two tiny pyramids, they sit atop the kidneys and from this central location mobilize the response to changes in our environment.
Whether stress comes from outside in the form of a natural disaster, or from within like the anxiety we experience before public speaking, it’s the adrenals’ job to help us adapt to the situation.
They accomplish this by secreting key hormones:
- Cortisol – The primary stress hormone that fine-tunes our response to the stress of everyday living
- DHEA – One of the most abundant hormones in the body, and a precursor to estrogens and testosterone; also balances some of the negative effects of high cortisol
- Epinephrine / Norepinephrine – Neurotransmitters that mobilize the body’s natural “fight or flight” response in an emergency
We utilize saliva cortisol test or a urine cortisol test to assess adrenal hormones. This involves collecting four non-invasive samples over the course of one day, from which a diurnal cortisol curve is created. This four-point graph reveals cortisol levels throughout the day and allows us to pinpoint issues with adrenal gland function.
Adrenal glands that are in balance produce adequate amounts of hormones to power us through the day. These hormones impact just about every process in the body, from energy production and immune activity to cellular maintenance and repair. They are key regulators of glucose, insulin and inflammation, and play a major role in bone and muscle building, mood and mental focus, stamina, sex drive and sleep cycles.
Adrenal glands that are out of balance can lead to:
- High Cortisol – results in insomnia, anxiety, sugar cravings, feeling tired but wired, increased belly fat & bone loss
- Low Cortisol – causes chronic fatigue, low energy, food and sugar cravings, poor exercise tolerance or recovery & low immune reserves
- DHEA – out of balance adrenals can lead to high or low DHEA.
Saliva testing has long been used as an accurate and reliable method for measuring cortisol because it’s simple and non-invasive, and patients can collect these samples multiple times per day. It’s easy to assess DHEA in these samples too.
Recent studies show that urine (dried) is just as effective for measuring cortisol and DHEA levels, and it’s also simple enough for patients to collect multiple times per day. The added benefit to dried urine testing is that epinephrine and norepinephrine can be measured at the same time, so patients who want a complete adrenal assessment can now get all four key markers together.
