What Causes Hashimoto’s?

Greenville SC Thyroid Doctor Answers – What Causes Hashimoto’s?

Have you been told you have Hashimoto’s disease in addition to low thyroid? Many people who have low thyroid also have this autoimmune disease. Low thyroid and Hashimoto’s are closely linked, but they are not the same things. Hashimoto’s is often a cause of low thyroid, but what causes the Hashimoto’s in the first place?

Autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s are the most prevalent form of chronic illness in the US today, affecting nearly 23.5 million people. Unfortunately, autoimmune diseases are often overlooked or under-addressed by health care providers. Because of the close link between low thyroid and Hashimoto’s, physicians often take the route of medication for the low thyroid, while basically ignoring the Hashimoto’s disease.

In autoimmune diseases the individual’s immune system, which normally serves as the body’s natural defense against invaders and infections, stops doing its job. Instead of protecting or defending the body, the immune system begins attacking it instead. In the case of Hashimoto’s disease, immune cells attack and damage the thyroid gland.

Hashimoto’s isn’t always detected in low thyroid patients, and when it is, primary care physicians often shrug it off. Patients are given thyroid hormone replacement medication they’re told they must take, and that they’ll be fine. In effect, the medication may help manage the patient’s low thyroid symptoms—or it may not. Either way, it will do nothing to address the autoimmune disease. The reason why those symptoms are occurring is ignored.

Functional wellness is an alternative to this type of health care that addresses autoimmune diseases (and health conditions such as low thyroid) in a very different way. Functional practitioners consider the whole person, not just symptoms, or the organ or system that appears to be most prominently involved in the symptoms. Functional health aims to identify the root cause(s) of health problems. In the case of low thyroid, you may very well have Hashimoto’s that needs to be addressed in order for you to start to feel better. If you do need thyroid replacement medication, dealing with the autoimmune disease may help by providing symptom relief as the result of your medication finally working well.

Hashimoto’s itself may have a variety of causes. One is genetic predisposition. If you have a family history of Hashimoto’s disease or other autoimmune disorders, you are more prone to Hashimoto’s. You may also be at risk for other autoimmune diseases, too, which is why it’s very important for health care providers to consider each patient as a whole. If you have rheumatoid arthritis for example, you may be at a higher risk of having Hashimoto’s, too, which is especially important to consider if you have low thyroid.

Some people have a difficult time with environmental toxins such as heavy metals. This may be a contributing factor to autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s. Mercury is a good example of how this might occur. If your body has a difficult time removing mercury from your system, it may remain in your body as a toxin that is damaging to your body’s tissues and a potential cause of autoimmune disease.

In addition to helping identify the causes of Hashimoto’s, functional wellness can help with natural, safe therapies that work to minimize your exposure to exactly what triggers your body to react, causing inflammation that can make you feel very ill. Eliminating foods you may be sensitive to is one example. Once you have a comprehensive view of exactly what’s going on in your body, it’s possible to take specific steps that help curb and minimize your body’s autoimmune response.

Schedule your FREE thyroid consultation today and learn how we may be able to help your thyroid symptoms.