News Items
Norwegian
Study by In the November 30th issues of Thyroid Science, Norwegian physician/researcher Bjørn Johan Øverbye, MD reported the results of his year-long study of what he calls "the Lowe Thesis."[1] The Lowe thesis is one most readers of drlowe.com are familiar with. It states, that most patients’ fibromyalgia results mainly from too little thyroid hormone regulation, due either to hypothyroidism and/or peripheral thyroid hormone resistance. http://www.thyroidscience.com/experimental.studies/abstracts/Overbye.metabolicfailure.fibromyalgia.htm Dr. Øverbye’s test result support my long-held hypothesis that has largely been ignored by old guard researchers in the field of fibromyalgia. It often happens in good medical science that the objective testing of a credible hypothesis turned up new hypotheses that warrant careful note and future study. This is true of Dr. Øverbye’s study; it potentially stokes the flames of fibromyalgia research.Almost simultaneously in the early 1990s, Professor J.B. Eisinger in France and I in the USA proposed that metabolic impairment was the main cause of fibromyalgia. [2][3] In a 1998 editorial in the Clinical Bulletin of Myofascial Therapy, I wrote, "Eisinger’s work . . . deserves the focused attention of all researchers and clinicians in the field. It should be clear to anyone who has scrutinized fibromyalgia patients that they suffer from metabolic impairment. In good science, such self-evident concepts serve as the postulates upon which forward-moving studies are based." Dr. Øverbye’s study is indeed one of those forward-moving studies in the field of fibromyalgia.The Øverbye study stands out as a high-quality mix of experimental and theoretical work. As such, it contributes to the growth of today’s only scientifically and logically plausible hypothesis of the cause of fibromyalgia. The most important evidence he presents was derived from his use of the long-respected Van Vincent method (first developed for the field of hydrology and later adapted to medicine). His evidence confirms rather than confutes the thesis.More importantly, Dr. Øverbye’s study is of great value to fibromyalgia patients. In providing evidential support for the metabolic paradigm of fibromyalgia, his study may influence more physicians to abandon the failed therapies of the collapsed rheumatology paradigm of fibromyalgia[5,pp.57-91] and give their patients proper metabolic therapy.Dr. Øverbye’s paper is technical. But I strongly recommend that readers allow him to carry them through the subatomic world of energetics that is the very foundation of the metabolic approach to fibromyalgia. I sincerely thank Dr. Øverbye for his unique contribution to the field and encourage him to carry on his important experimental and theoretical work. Dr. Øverbye's StudyReferences  1. Øverbye, B.J.: Metabolic failure as the cause of fibromyalgia syndrome: exploring the John C. Lowe thesis. Thyroid Science, 11(1):1-17, 2002. 2. Eisinger, J.P., et al.: Glycolysis abnormalities in fibromyalgia. J. Am. Coll. Nutr., 13:144-148, 1994. 3. Lowe, J.C., et al.: Improvement in euthyroid fibromyalgia patients treated with T3. J. Myofascial Ther., 1(2):16-29, 1994. 4. Lowe, J.C.: Editorial. Clin. Bull. Myofascial Ther., 3(1): 1-2, 1998. 5. Lowe, J.C.: The Metabolic Treatment of Fibromylagia. Boulder, McDowell Publishing Co., 2000.
If
I'm Hypothyoid from Hashimoto's, Occasionally a patient consults me about what seems to her a contradiction: "My doctor told me I have a thyroid hormone deficiency," she says. "That's because I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis, a disease that's destroying my thyroid gland. But half the time, I feel anything but hypothyroid. Instead of feeling sluggish, I feel like pots of coffee are being pumped into my veins through an IV tube." The confusion over this revved up feeling among Hashimoto’s patients can result from either of two mechanisms. Rarely, both mechanisms are affecting the patients at the same time. First, when a patient has Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, lymphocytes are invading the thyroid gland. As the thyroid follicles (sacs that stores thyroid hormone) are disrupted, they release "thyroglobulin," the protein on which thyroid hormone is made. They also release "thyroid peroxidase, " the enzyme that converts iodine so that it can be incorporated into thyroid hormone. When exposed, thyroglobulin and peroxidase function as antigens to which antibodies form. Over time, the lymphocytes and antibodies so damage the thyroid gland that some of its follicles rupture. Thyroid hormone that was held in the follicles then spills into the blood. This deluge of thyroid hormone from the gland can overstimulate a patient’s cells.[1,p.928] The overstimulation can cause the patient to feel that he or she has "hyperthyroidism," which is an excess production of thyroid hormone by the thyroid gland. Second, some patients who have Hashimoto’s also have hyperthyroidism.[1][2][3] The reason is that they not only produce anti-thyroid antibodies (thyroglobulin and thyroid peroxidase antibodies) that destroy the thyroid gland. They also have antibodies that stimulate the thyroid gland. These are called "thyroid stimulating immunglobulins." Some patients, then, have both thyroid-destroying and thyroid-stimulating antibodies at the same time. As a result, they off-and-on have symptoms of both too little and too much thyroid hormone. If this is the case with you, I recommend that you ask your doctor to order both anti-thyroid and thyroid-stimulating antibodies. The three types of antibodies are thyroglobulin and thyroid peroxidase antibodies and thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin. If your doctor won’t order these important tests for you, in most states in the US, we can order them for you long distance. If you need for us to order the tests, talk with Tammy at one of the contact sources below. References
Our Menu of Services: We have a menu of my husband's clinical services and fees. We put the menu together so that you can avail yourself of some or all of the services, whichever best fits your budget. If you want to talk about Dr. Lowe's services, you can reach our clinical assistant, Maureen Donahoe, or me by phone at 303-440-8950. If you prefer, you can email me at Tammy@drlowe.comm. However, we also have a webpage where we describe our menu of services: Your Options for Metabolic Evaluations and Treatment. Dr. John C. Lowe, PLLC © 2007 John C. Lowe, MA, DC. All rights reserved. This email newsletter may be copied and distributed subject to three conditions: (1) All text within the full document or any section copied must be copied without modification with all pages included. (2) All copies must contain the following copyright notice: "© 2007 John C. Lowe." (3) Neither this full document nor any section of it may be published or distributed for profit. |