This is a YouTube video titled "Thyroid Testing" created on March 16, 2021, featuring a detailed conversation between Ask AI Mark and Dr. Izabella Wentz. They discuss thyroid function tests, including TSH, free T3, free T4, reverse T3, and thyroid antibodies, with a focus on diagnosing and managing thyroid disorders such as Hashimoto's disease using a functional medicine approach.
You can go to the doctor with these symptoms and what are the tests they're gonna do?
What's the first test they're gonna do? If you can get them to test your thyroid, right, they're gonna check your TSH, which is your thyroid stimulating hormone, that's released by the pituitary gland to tell the thyroid to make more thyroid hormone. And if you have low thyroid, then.
You'Re gonna have very high level of TSH. That's right. So they just check TSH or thyroid stimulating hormone, which is the hormone that comes from your pituitary gland, communicates with your thyroid gland to make hormone. And, if your thyroid gland is not working, it's going to create more TSH to try to pump more thyroid out. But, we're learning that even what we thought were, quote, normal levels are not optimal. That even, you know, we thought if you look at the reference range, it's five. And, if it's over five, they might say, oh, you maybe have a little bit of thyroid issues. Well, we know from the American College of Endocrinology that the reference range should be maybe three or three and a half. And, I would probably say it should be one, you know, one or two at the most, even over two I don't like to see. And then they don't check all the other tests that actually are important. And there are so many other ways that you have to look at the thyroid to understand its true function and what you're dealing with. So what are the other tests we would do at the center for functional medicine?
I mean, check for a free T, a free T3, which is your free thyroid T3.
You're free thyroid.
That's the active hormone. So when your thyroid makes thyroid hormone, it makes two, it makes thyroid, it makes T4 and it makes T3. T4 is not the active form, it's T3. T4 goes to your body and it's converted in the liver, in the muscles, in the intestine, in the heart to T3. T3 is the active form and that is then going to enter the cells and have its result, its important impact in a cellular metabolism. So we check for free T4, free T3, and something called reverse T3. Reverse T3 is an active T3. and it acts as a as a like a break. It's a break. It's a breaking system. And basically when you for any reason you have too much T3, T4 will get converted to reverse T3 and reverse T3 is sort of this inert T3 that won't have any impact. And that sort of is a breaking system. And then reverse T3 is also a marker for inflammation. It can be elevated when people have significant inflammation.
Inflammation or chronic illness. Right. And again, and it can block your thyroid and you can look like you have a normal level. but actually you're really functionally hypothyroid even though your other levels may be normal.
Exactly.
And, that's how I'm very rarely checked.
And then there are antibody levels that we check. So, we check the thyroid peroxidase antibody and that's the main antibody that we check.
It's probably the most sensitive for diagnosing Hashimoto's. Yeah, so we check the thyroid antibodies like thyroid peroxidase, anti-thyroglobulin antibodies. And, what I've learned over the years is people can have completely normal TSH, normal T3, normal T4, and they can have sky high antibodies.
Absolutely.
And most traditional doctors won't even bother getting there, 'cause unless the TSH is elevated, they don't look. And second is, if you have elevated antibodies, it means there's an autoimmune process going on. You better get on it before it gets too far. And often these patients feel much better when they get on thyroid replacement once they start having antibodies. But there's a lot of efforts that people are doing and that we, I mean, there are a lot of efforts that, that people are, are doing to try to reverse Hashimoto's and, and often very successfully in bringing the antibodies down, using a more functional medicine approach with diet, lifestyle, the right supplementation and, and detoxification, hormonal balance and all the things we're talking about.
Right.
I mean, it's not always that easy, but it's possible. And I think if you get on it early, it's, it's much easier before your thyroid's burned out.
