A Stranger Question, of sorts

[fullmergavin]

Doctor, I thank you for offering your insights and taking questions from all of us here on this free service. That shows me a great deal about your character, sir/ma'am. You're a rare one in this day and age, and I have a good idea the day will come when you are truly rewarded for your compassion for those with illness.

I am 28 years old and have been a lifelong Type 1 Diabetic since the age of 15 months. Thankfully, God above has been very good to me, as I sit here today with really no major complications to speak of from my disease. I was blessed to be able to start up with pump therapy about five years ago now, and that's worked out pretty well for me, having had lowered my A1C's to around 6.

I have a very basic question for you today, one that might only command a one sentence answer, yet is likely to be one that would take years of research to be able to answer, on the same hand.

The mood/behavioral observations that can be found among those with thyroid disorders is quite obvious in many different cases/examples.

Here's my simple question for you, and this might be one that you just can't answer. If so, I understand-

Is the mood disorder the result of the thyroid imbalance, or is the thyroid imbalance the result of the mood problem?

If there's any room for the possibility that the former scenario would ever be possible, might there ever be a connection back to the Pineal Gland itself with some of this?

In other words, perhaps some of this might be nothing more than a simple test of Faith~.

Thanks again, so much.

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

It's not contradictory - it's a matter of severity of the thyroid dysfunction.  This has been looked at by psychiatrists and endocrinologists and I have discussed this with a dual-boarded psychiatrist/endocrinologist -- again, de novo mood disorders can be caused by SEVERE thyroid dysfunction whereas mild thyroid dysfunction will aggravate an underlying mood disorder -- in some cases the mood disorder does not need psych meds only thyroid correction -- but almost invariably in cases of mild thyroid dysfxn the mood disorder was already there and simply made worse (or more apparent).

[fullmergavin]

I'm not a doctor, but the one part of this that I've had a little bit of difficulty understanding involves the role of iodine (Potassium iodide) or Kelp (Iodine) in those cases of T4/T3 distortions. To my understanding, one's actual thyroid hormones (T4, T3) are almost exclusively dependant on iodine sufficiency?

If that's the case, than in those types of situations where a person's T4/ T3 levels are low, than that's kind of a different situation at work, isn't it? Something that might possibly be dependant on restoring the iodine and/or potassium iodide levels by way of supplementation?

Another interesting theory that I've read on this topic involves the role of radiation from cell phones and computers on the thyroid gland, believe it or not.

The gov't, for example, suggests that all households stockpile potassium iodide in the event of a nuclear disaster/terrorist strike. The only thing that I know about potassium iodide is that it's a source of iodine required by the thyroid for maintaining its hormones. It's other use, of course, is to save life in the event of such an attack as mentioned above.

Yet, what's radiation? Certainly one might be affected by radiation if they were exposed to such. But might the mind itself also be capable of producing its own form of "Radiation?"

Panic/excessive stress/down moods-it's conceivable that all of these mental conditions would have the potential to create some extra energy up in the brain, isn't it? And when the brain gets upset, the Hypothalmus is likely to be affected, which in turn will affect the Pituatory. Next stop? The thyroid gland.

Just something to think about a little bit, you know?

Try opening a door for a stranger tomorrow and try to get your mind off of whatever you're worrying about, do something different/new. Get your minds off of high fuel costs, the evils of politics, etc, etc. Try to go back to who you once were, if only for the weekend, than see how you feel. It's worth a shot, isn't it?

[ancientmariner]

Dr. Mark,

Isn't your statement a bit contradictory? First you say "Mood disorders are usually not caused by thyroid imbalance but are worsened by thyroid imbalance" and then you say "Severe hypo or hyper can cause symptoms much like a mood disorder". But aren't mood disorders diagnosed by symptoms?

Here are a couple of articles that suggest that many times hypothyroidism initially presents with psychiatric symptoms.  


http://www.drrichardhall.com/Articles/hashimoto.pdf

http://www.psychiatrist.com/pcc/pccpdf/v05n06/v05n0603.pdf

I believe that many people are unnecessarily medicated for mood disorders when their problem is really low thyroid. And most of the standard medications they are given are detrimental to the thyroid, in effect worsening their conditions.

[Ussie]

The only time I have a mood disorder, is when my thyroid levels are not right for me. My Ft4 and Ft3 have to be in the upper 1/3 of their ranges. When the Frees are in that area, I feel so great and not moody at all.

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

Mood disorders are usually not caused by thyroid imbalance but are worsened by thyroid imbalance - in other words, usually the patient has a mood disorder that is aggravated by either hypo or hyper thyroidism.  Severe hypo or hyper can cause symptoms much like a mood disorder even if a patient does not have an underlying mood diorder.  The pineal gland may be involved - I am not aware of definite connections -- but in general in medicine -- there is more we don't know than we know....