McCall McPherson explains why most Americans on T4-only thyroid medications like levothyroxine face higher risks of heart disease, osteoporosis, and early death. Adequate T3 levels, whether natural or from medications like Armour or Cytomel, cut heart attack risk by 37% and overall heart disease risk by 68%.
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Are there any long-term consequences to being on thyroid medication? 90 to 91% of people on thyroid medication in America are on a T4-based medication like levothyroxine, Synthroid, Unithroid, Levoxyl. And what blew my mind whenever I started really looking at the data that comes into my inbox literally every day is T4-based medications or people walking around with extra T4, which medicine is is not concerned about at all, have an increased mortality risk, increased risk of osteoporosis, osteopenia, heart disease, cardiovascular risk, even lower socioeconomic status. So I know that sounds scary, but there is a silver lining to this, and that is people who have adequate amounts of T3, whether it's their own endogenous T3 or active thyroid hormone, or people who are on T3-based medications. Like Armour, Renthyroid, NP, Cytomel, Liothyronine, even Cytomel added to Synthroid show lower overall mortality risk, reduction in osteopenia, reduced cancer risk, higher socioeconomic status, lower risk for dementia and infertility. So here's the thing. It's got to be done correctly and it needs to be done right. When it is, it actually protects your long-term health. For example, one fascinating statistic is heart disease is what kills most of us, right? Men and women alike. It's the number one killer of all of us. And if you're on good thyroid medication and not walking around with subclinical or hypothyroidism, you are at a 37% less likely risk of dying of a heart attack and a risk reduction of 68% of heart disease in general. So get your thyroid checked, get your meds right, and actually the long-term consequences can be incredibly beneficial.
