Archive for March, 2022

Natural Health – Thyroid and Hemorrhoid – Something in Common?

March 11th, 2022

I had a patient several years ago that asked me if having a hemorrhoid had anything to do with her thyroid.

I held back my laughter and then I said to my arrogant self “if someone really doesn’t know anatomy then that question makes perfect sense!”

Both thyroid and hemorrhoid end in ‘oid’ (which is a suffix that means “like”, “resembling”, or “in the image of” – but don’t ask me to address that one – thigh-roid?)

I kindly told her no and explained to her the difference between those terms.

But even for people who know about the body there is still such a lack of knowledge and understanding about the thyroid gland.

According to Karilee Shames Phd RN, and her physician husband Richard, both of whom authored “Thyroid Power”, even the medical community lacks knowledge and understanding about this very important gland in our body. They say that thyroid conditions are under diagnosed and under treated.

January is Thyroid Awareness Month.

Over 60 million Americans have thyroid problems, and only 13 million are diagnosed.

In my “Green Tea with Marilee” interview with Karilee, she shared the many signs and symptoms of a thyroid imbalance, some of which are:

–fatigue
–depression
–overweight
–dry skin, hair, nails
–dry eye
–low libido
–high cholesterol
–infertility
–miscarriage
–difficulty in menopause

And that 80% of all thyroid sufferers are women.

Karilee described a typical scenario in our interview:

A woman goes in to see her physician and says “my hair is falling out in clumps, my eyes are dry, my skin is dry, my nails are brittle, I’m chilly all of the time, I’m depressed, and I’m gaining weight while hardly eating.”

What happens, Karilee says, is that the symptoms are usually managed without the underlying issue explored and the patient often ends up on anti-depressants and other unnecessary medication, which can make things worse.

Karilee talks about our toxic environment as a major culprit to this epidemic condition. She also talks about natural approaches that one can take to balance out the thyroid.

Dr. and Dr. Shames’ “Thyroid Coaching” program is one of the