A short YouTube monologue by McCall McPherson explaining why thyroid conditions are more common in women. She separates causes into two main categories—autoimmune thyroid diseases (Hashimoto's, Graves) and non-autoimmune hypothyroidism—highlights heightened postpartum risk from immune rebound and increased hypothyroidism after menopause, and recommends frequent screening, especially postpartum.
Chapters
What if I told you if you are a woman and if you are a woman with children. It is not a matter of if, but when you will be diagnosed with a thyroid condition, if you are properly being screened. That is certainly my belief, not the general belief of medicine. But their criteria for diagnosing thyroid is quite different than ours at modern thyroid clinic. But I want to talk about why thyroid conditions are so much more prevalent in women than men and what research says about that. Break it down into two main categories. Autoimmune thyroid conditions like Hashimoto's or Graves and general plain old hypothyroidism. Okay, autoimmune thyroid conditions and autoimmune diseases in general, always so much more common in women. We are prone, because of our physiology and multiple facets of it, to be more at risk for autoimmune diseases. This is exacerbated postpartum. In fact, a woman's most high risk time to develop an autoimmune thyroid condition is postpartum, when our immune system swings from being in hibernation during pregnancy to being overreactive postpartum. So definitely reasons to screen frequently, especially if you are in the postpartum period of one or multiple children. The other category is just plain old hypothyroidism. And my view on this is women in general, we start to lose our hormones and adequate hormone production in our mid-20s and there is a slow decrease over time. We think about that in terms of reproductive hormones and perimenopause, et cetera. I think about that also, and I see that all day, every day, in conjunction and correlating with thyroid hormone production. I see a slow decrease in function over time. Now, whether that's our natural physiology, whether that's environmental influence, something is creating that situation. Research also shows women tend to have a significant spike in hypothyroidism postmenopausally. So as their hormones fade, their thyroid again kind of correlates with my theory. We need or hypothyroidism incidence increases and production of thyroid hormones decreases in correlation with our reproductive hormones. So I hope that answers your questions. Post any questions below. Let me know what you want to know and I'll talk about it.
