McCall McPherson compares desiccated thyroid products like Armour to synthetic levothyroxine. Desiccated thyroid contains about 20-25% T3 and 75-80% T4, and any benefit comes from the T3, not from being natural. Different patients need different hormone ratios, so neither type works for everyone.
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Let's talk about natural versus synthetic thyroid medications. I got like a hate message yesterday on social that's like how dare you talk about prescribing synthetic medications. If you are a good thyroid clinician, you'd only prescribe natural desiccated. And the reality is, guys, is, I want you guys to understand what's really happening now is natural desiccated thyroid medications like Armour or NP or Atheiza, are they better than levothyroxine, Synthroid? Abso freaking lutely. Why not? Because they're natural. Because they have T3. Okay, now if you arrive at perfect thyroid function, optimal my ranges on desiccated thyroid or on synthetic forms of T4 and T3, guess what? You feel the same. You feel just as good. It's not the natural part that makes it better, it's the T3 part that makes it better. The reason T4 based medications are horrible like levosynthroid, et cetera, T R scent is because they don't have any natural any active thyroid hormone in them. Desiccated thyroid is a little active. A lot of inactive synthetic medications like Cytomel are pure active thyroid hormone. Desiccated thyroid has limitations, guys. So Armour, NP, Adthisa, these medications have 20, 25% T3, 75% T4. So the ratio is like this. A lot of people do not do well on that ratio of thyroid hormone. A lot of people need more active hormone compared to inactive hormone. And those people will not get well on desiccated thyroid. That's why there is no one size fits all. Everyone should get the same medication approach in proper thyroid care. And that is why everyone should not be on desiccated thyroid for for innumerable reasons. But it is the T3 that makes a difference. It is not natural versus synthetic.
