Madeline was 42 when I met her. If I had to describe her in a word on the day we met, the word would be sad. There were other adjectives I could have chosen. I could have said pretty. After learning about her wonderful family I could have said blessed. I could have even used the word loving. It’s just that the sadness was so pervasive it overshadowed everything else.
Today, Madeline is not only happy, she is literally renewed. “Phil, I am a NEW person” are the words she’s shared with me each time we discussed her results, results she achieved and documented in only 8 weeks!
There’s something else I should share. Madeline, when I met her, was . . . HYPOTHYROID! She told me about it as if she had a hidden plague or a curse. She broke into tears as she showed me where her hair was thinning, when she described her relentless and fruitless battle with weight gain, and most of all, when she told me she felt as if she was losing her ability to control her emotions. I thought she might be relieved when I told her of the changes I’ve seen in hypothyroid women who went through the 8-week A.L.I.V.E. protocol. I thought she might feel less alienated when I told her she’s far from alone. I thought it might ease her concerns when I told her that the Synthroid she was taking was the fourth most prescribed drug in the U.S. with over 75 million prescriptions written annually. Nothing helped . . . until she started on the protocol. That’s when everything changed, and I mean everything.
This isn’t intended to be the story of Madeline, as she’s only one of a great many. The sea of women with thyroid challenges is vast, but the question that remains unanswered is twofold. (1) How vast? (2) What can be done?
In looking at the published statistics of thyroid disease, the revealed prevalence raises an eyebrow, but in my experience, both eyebrows need to be raised, both eyes opened wide, and a collective effort must be made to better inform our population about chronic disease.
A respected study published in the journal Thyroid (Aoki Y, Belin RM, Clickner R, et al. 2007. Serum TSH and total T4 in the United States population and their association with participant characteristics: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 1999-2002). Thyroid 17(12):1211-23) years ago established that 4% of the U.S. population has overt hypothyroidism with the largest concentration in women over 50. That’s a big number. It account for near 12 million people, but it’s barely a piece of the whole picture. Overt hypothyroidism is diagnosed when TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone produced by the pituitary gland) is elevated and thyroid hormone output (T3 and T4) is low. Let’s consider the following:
Overt hypothyroidism is increasing radically from year to year. There must be something taking place beyond the revelations of statistical measure.
Any thyroid hormone compromise, whether it is diagnosed as “overt,” “subclinical,” or otherwise, is going to result in hypothyroid symptoms. It’s also important to note, an unknown number of people are going through their lives under hypothyroid conditions without ever being diagnosed. When I suggest the statistics are based on underreported incidence, I’m suggesting the realities are far beyond anything published statistics have revealed.
While it can only be categorized as anecdotal, I’ll share something I found shocking. Not only wasn’t Madeline a rare case, she was . . . the majority! After taking over 700 people through the A.L.I.V.E. protocol, I’ve found that of the women tested, over 90% of those over the age of 40 had thyroid compromise based on lab tests. 90%!
In trying to reconcile this, I found some rationalizations. People gravitate toward my programs when they seek weight loss, so perhaps this isn’t a fair sampling of the population as a whole. Perhaps women with thyroid issues are attracted to the A.L.I.V.E. protocol because they’ve heard of my experience in dis-ease reversal among those with “sluggish” thyroids.
With those rationalizations out there, it still isn’t enough. I have to believe the statistical reporting is absurdly low. I think it’s also important to realize that the thyroid gland is affected by an astronomical number of variables ranging from dietary deficiencies, toxins and chemicals, fluoride, phyto-estrogens (soy), and stress to alterations in adrenal activity. Looking for “overt” hypothyroidism might neglect the millions who fall not under a title, but suffer an unintentionally self-induced condition resulting in hypothyroid symptoms.
The endocrine system is amazing in its attempt to maintain balance, and endocrine shifts are usually adaptations based on miscommunications between intention, the brain, and the glands. In other words, the brain doesn’t know you’re dieting to look better. It thinks you can’t get enough food, and the Hypothalamus and Pituitary get to work driving endocrine shifts to keep you alive. Slowing metabolism by altering thyroid output is a sure-fire way to keep you thriving on fewer calories. Good intentions, poor understanding of the goal. Restrict calories often and that miscommunication becomes reinforced and habitual.
With our environment as toxic as it is, with the pushed reliance upon meds to “fix” problems that the meds cannot fix, and with the stress levels most American adults live under . . . it begins to make sense that after 40 or 45 years of life, women would suffer some endocrine compromises.
Madeline cried through the diagnoses, through the drug prescriptions, through the weight gain, and through the assessment with me. She doesn’t cry anymore. There’s a new word I’d use to describe her. Electric! She radiates light. She radiates happiness and joy. What changed? She gained control and defeated the dis-ease that plagued her. She came to understand that we have the power to reverse movement along the Dis-ease continuum, and there are interventions that are holistic, natural, and healthy. The A.L.I.V.E. protocol is such an intervention.
I cover the science behind A.L.I.V.E. and the reversal of chronic disease including hypothyroidism in my A.L.I.V.E. webinar. Register now for the next one. Life may never be the same.
Find details and register at http://yourhealthbeginsnow.com
As always, you can email me directly at phil@philkaplan.com. I do the best I can to respond to all emails that arrive with the subject line: ALIVE.
Phil Kaplan: TransGenesis 