THE THYROID AND HORMONE CONNECTION Steven F. Hotze, M.D. OUR MISSION At Hotze Health & Wellness Center, we look at medical problems a little differently than conventional medicine. And that’s good news for all of our patients. Our program is designed to address your TRANSFORMING health concerns from a natural treatment perspective. Instead of masking symptoms with medications, we address the root LIVES, NATURALLY causes of medical problems and correct them, naturally. By listening to you and utilizing bioidentical At Hotze Health & Wellness Center, hormones, our goal is to help you restore we are leading a wellness revolution your health, transform your life, and renew that advances a new model of your world, naturally. health care for our society; a model that promotes natural healing, We have successfully treated thousands of patients and look forward to serving you in respects the patient, and puts them your quest for a healthier and happier you! in charge of their health and vitality. Committed to helping you enjoy a better quality of life, I am, Sincerely yours, Steven F. Hotze, M.D. “For the care of your life.” If this is the way you feel, then please take note. Your health problems are not “all in your head.” Your symptoms are very real and have a physical cause. You are not being punished by God. However, you may be suffering needlessly at the hands of unsympathetic physicians who do not have the time, the interest, or the training to determine the root cause of your problems. ARE YOU SICK AND TIRED OF BEING SICK AND TIRED? The problems experienced by women during midlife are commonly a result of an imbalance in the female hormones and an overall decline in hormone production. The negative effects of this hormonal imbalance are not limited to the reproductive system. The female hormones play important roles throughout the body, in the heart, brain, muscles, bones, and other major organs and tissues. Are you weary of doctors who won’t listen to you, don’t understand you, and offer only prescription drugs as the solution to your health problems? The female hormones also interact with hormones produced by other glands, and an imbalance in levels of estrogen and progesterone adversely affects the production and use of these Are you frustrated with being told that your blood tests are “normal” and there is hormones. Fatigue, weight gain, mood and memory problems, insomnia, headaches, and nothing wrong with you? menstrual disorders can all be traced back to various hormonal imbalances and deficiencies. One common result of female hormonal imbalance is hypothyroidism, or low thyroid function, I understand how you feel. At my Center, I see women daily who have sought the care which weakens the immune system and can trigger allergies, chemical sensitivities, and of numerous physicians for fatigue, weight gain, mood swings, menstrual irregularities, recurrent infections during midlife. Adrenal insufficiency often accompanies low thyroid headaches, joint and muscle pain, loss of libido, and numerous other problems. They have function, worsening the problems of low energy, impaired immunity, and allergies. had their blood drawn and their hormone levels measured, only to be told that no physical cause of their symptoms could be found. Blood testing, which is a standard diagnostic tool of conventional medicine, is not the best way to diagnose hormonal problems or to assess whether the treatment of these problems is working. A woman who is repeatedly told by her doctor that everything is “normal” even though she The most reliable indication of a hormonal problem is how a patient feels physically, mentally, does not feel well is unlikely to get the personal attention and compassionate treatment and emotionally. Likewise, the most important criteria for evaluating the benefits of treatment that she deserves. Instead, she will be categorized as a hypochondriac, prescribed an are the resolution of symptoms and the overall improvement in a patient’s well-being. antidepressant, or referred to a psychiatrist. This approach, which entails listening to the patient’s description of her problems and making Initially, she may reject the idea of using antidepressants because she is still convinced that a diagnosis based on this description, is a lost art in current medical practice. Today’s physicians something within her body is not functioning correctly. But eventually, as her condition rely almost exclusively on laboratory tests in making diagnoses. While this may be necessary persists, she will comply with her doctor’s wishes and take the drugs. When these drugs provide for certain diseases, it is not an effective or appropriate way to evaluate and treat the problems no relief, she may begin to consider that the doctor is right and that her problems are “all in caused by hormonal imbalances and deficiencies that occur in midlife to both women and men. her head.” Even worse, she may conclude, as some women have revealed to me, that God is punishing her for her past sins. 2 3 WHY DOCTORS DON’T UNDERSTAND WOMEN The physicians Maggie consulted made her feel as if her problems were all in her head. As you will see, they were wrong. Although their attitudes to Maggie’s complaints were condescending, DOCTOR, they were not surprising. If their medical education was anything like mine, a callous disregard AM I A HYPOCHONDRIAC? for women’s health problems was virtually guaranteed. Let me explain. During my first semester of medical school, I took a course called History and Physical Diagnosis. This is a basic course in which medical students learn to interview a patient, identify the chief complaint or symptom, and then perform a review of the systems (digestive, respiratory, When thirty-two-year-old Maggie came to see me, she was experiencing a host of medical cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, etc.), asking about other symptoms the patient might be having. problems that had arisen after the birth of her first child two years prior. Her menstrual cycles had become irregular, with her periods occurring as frequently as one to three weeks apart, lasting The professor teaching this course instructed us that if a woman in midlife had more than one as long as seventeen days, and being accompanied by severe cramps. She also experienced complaint during the review of systems, then she was a hypochondriac and should be placed bouts of severe abdominal bloating, cramping, and constipation. on an antidepressant. In the previous year, she had experienced four sinus infections and was plagued by recurrent Now, imagine this. The class was overwhelmingly comprised of young men in their early sinus headaches. Although she had no history of allergies, she was now having wheezing twenties. Every man in that room had already experienced numerous problems with a attacks and allergic reactions to perfumes, hairsprays, smoke, and a variety of chemical fumes. girlfriend or spouse. Now they knew why. The professor was asserting that women were emotionally unstable individuals, so much so that they often needed antidepressants to make On top of all this, Maggie suffered from severe depression and fatigue. She complained that them tolerable. This was a small seed that was sown in the minds of all those young, would-be she was in a “brain fog” much of the time. doctors. It was a seed that would sprout years later when they finally began their own medical practices. The first time they had to interview a middle-aged female patient, she would typically Maggie had sought the care of a number of physicians in her hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. describe a long list of complaints. “Voila,” they would think. The professor had been right about She had been given antibiotics for her sinus infections, which had made her abdominal women. And of course they knew exactly what to do: prescribe an antidepressant. bloating worse, and antidepressants for her mood problems, which had provided no relief. When a friend of hers, a patient at the Hotze Health & Wellness Center, told her there was a What a sad commentary this is. The vast majority of women who have come to me for evaluations natural alternative treatment for her problems, Maggie flew to Houston for an evaluation. are already taking antidepressants, which are one of the most widely prescribed classes of drugs. Now you know why. After telling me of her numerous problems, Maggie asked, “Dr. Hotze, am I a hypochondriac?” 4 5 MAGGIE’S STORY: “I FEEL LIKE I’M FALLING APART” moves through her menstrual life. Imbalances in the levels of estrogen and progesterone are inevitable for women in their thirties, forties, and beyond. Regardless of the cause of this imbalance, the health problems that arise are often severe and debilitating. For Maggie, the When Maggie and I sat down for our first meeting, I asked her how she was feeling. dramatic change in her hormonal balance following the birth of her child stressed her adrenal glands, altered her thyroid function, and triggered her allergic disorders. “I feel like I’m falling apart,” she said. “I expected motherhood to be a time of enjoyment and excitement, but instead I feel sad and cry all the time. It is difficult for me to sleep and I never feel fully rested. I can’t focus, I have no desire for sex, and I’m not the mother or the wife I want to be.” MAGGIE’S TREATMENT PROGRAM I reassured Maggie that her symptoms were common to women in her age group and could “How has this affected your relationship with your husband?” I asked. be easily treated. We started by addressing the imbalance in her female hormone levels. Since Maggie was producing adequate estrogen, boosting her progesterone levels would be the “He doesn’t understand what is going on with me.