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A Critique of Dr. Richard Guttler's Beliefs About Hypothyroidism |
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The quotations below are excerpts from my critique
of Dr. Richard Guttler’s beliefs about hypothyroidism. A few
quotations in the critique contain no errors; however, most of the
quotations contain at least one error, although some contain several.
Below, I’ve listed the quotations with errors as they appear in the
critique, seriatim. I’ve followed each of his errors with
[sic].
Placing your cursor on a
[sic]
will make a popup window appear with an explanation of that particular
error. Because the quotations contain so many errors,
noting each one in the critique with
[sic]
would have distracted readers. Not noting them with
[sic],
however, will leave some readers without an understanding of just how
careless Dr. Guttler is with the written English language. Based on my critique, I believe Dr. Guttler’s
carelessness with our written language betokens his carelessness as
"the real thyroid expert."[5]
That carelessness, in my view, is evident in his implying that his
beliefs are based on science, while, as the critique shows, scientific
evidence proves his beliefs to be false. "Your email fans were the most uneducated
thyroid patients,
[sic] I have
ever run across in the [sic] 7
years on the web answering questions.
[sic]
The emails convinced me that you were filling them with half truths
[sic],
[sic]
and out right [sic]
falsehoods."[3] "There should be a big Pop Up
[sic]
prior to all your ads on your website that states, Thyroid Patients,
This site may be hazardous to your thyroid health
[sic]."[3] Specifically, he wrote, ". . . symptoms, such
as fatigue, [sic]
and weight gain are not thyroid related if the testing is stable and normal."[5] "The thyroid tests are abnormal way before you
have ‘thyroid related symptoms’. [sic]
Other similar symptoms, such as fatigue,
[sic]
and weight gain are not thyroid related if the testing is
stable and normal."[5] He quoted the protestor as writing, "Hugh [sic]
weight gain on Synthroid [sic]"
And he retorted: "There is no reason that any thyroid medication
would cause weight gain, unless the dose was inadequate [remember
that Guttler defines "inadequate" as not enough to keep the
TSH within the normal reference range]. Excessive Armour could be the
reason you have lost the weight. [From Guttler’s words, we must
assume that the protestor lost weight after switching from Synthroid
to Armour.] You need a TSH. If it is low
[sic]
you have your reason for
abnormal weight loss due to induced hyperthyroidism
[sic]."[5] "She claimed fear of radiation," he wrote,
"and even more important
[sic]
to
[sic]
weight gain without a thyroid gland. Even after reassurance about the
safety of RAI [radioactive iodine] and the weight neutral
[sic]
aspects of post radiation therapy of thyroid hormone replacement, she
refused."[9] He wrote, "They [Mary and her army of
combination T4 and T3 users] are allows
[sic]
talking about hypothyroidism as the cause of depression. Also that T4/T3 combos are
better at fighting depressive symptoms.
[sic]
Wrong!"[7] He also
wrote, "Sawka, et. al. from Canada,
[sic]
reported in
[sic]
Journal of
Clinical Endocrinology (10) 4551-5 2003,
[sic]
that there was evidence that combo T4,
[sic]
T3 Did Not
[sic]
improve
depression over T4 alone."[7] Guttler quoted someone who protested his attack on
Mary Shomon: "Depression on Synthroid, relieved by Thyrolar. You
are a kook
[sic]
" Guttler
replied, "Thyroid disease can cause worsening of depression, and
the worsening will be corrected by normal amounts of any thyroid medication
[sic]
"[5] According to Dr. Guttler, someone protesting his
attack on Mary wrote, "Crappy Synthroid
[sic]"
He replied, "Her symptoms of ‘horrible PMS, depression, acne,
and awful periods
[sic]
are not due to thyroid deficiency, if the
accurate T4 and TSH tests are normal."[5] Dr. Guttler wrote of them: "This doctor and
wife [Drs. Richard and Karilee Shames] have clearly stated on their
website that people can be hypothyroid with normal tests! That is
grounds for not paying any further attention to them as experts in
thyroid disease."[7]
He went on, "Why should patients pay any further attention to any
doctor who is selling 10 step programs, books, and advocating that,
[sic]
obese, fatigued, cold, and muscle aching
[sic]
people with 100% normal T4,
T3, and TSH tests,
[sic]
are hypothyroid! That is scientifically impossible!"[7] At the end of each of his newsletters, Dr. Guttler
states, "You are the thyroid patients.......
[sic]
I am the thyroid doctor
[sic]"
Elsewhere he makes clear that he isn’t just "the thyroid
doctor"; he’s also "the real thyroid expert."[5]
So that we make no mistake about it, he wrote: "There are only
several hundred true thyroid doctors in the country. I would check out
American Thyroid Association at thyroid.org for the real list of
thyroid experts. I am on the real list."[5] In a posting to the newsgroup alt.support.thyroid on
May 15, 2004, Dr. Guttler asked readers, "Why do you think there is
[sic]
no postings by experts" at the newsgroup? Considering himself one of the missing
"experts," he wrote, "I stopped posting in 1998, when I
felt the hostility from a small group of self proclaimed
[sic]
‘experts’ without portfolio."[48] He advised readers of the newsgroup: "Any
serious thyroid patient looking for advice,
[sic]
needs to look elswhere
[sic]
, [sic]
until thyroidologist
[sic],
providers of thyroid care, are wlecome
[sic]
to post. Go to thyroid.org, and go to these excellent reviews of
thyroid on the web. They will outline ‘
[sic]
good sites for obtaining patient information."[48] Following the annual American Thyroid Association
meeting in Los Angeles in mid-October 2002, he wrote: "The big
hot button issue is
[sic]
about T4,
[sic]
and T3 combination
therapy for hypothyroidism. A group from U. of Toronto presented data
that
[sic]
there was no Advantage
[sic]
to combo therapy for hypothyroid patients."[8] Seven months later, he commented on another study
comparing T4-replacement with T4/T3-replacement: "More recent
evidence against T4/T3 combination therapy
[sic]
No matter what Mary and her army of combination T4 and T3 users say
about how great they feel, there is more evidence that there is no
scientific value to these therapies. Studies published in
[sic]
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology, by Walsh et. al. Vol.88 (10) 443-50
2003, confirm that
[sic]
no improvement in well being
[sic],
cognitive function, or quality of life compared to T4 alone."[7] Consider his judgment of Armour in his May 15, 2004
newsletter: "Thyroid extract was the standard of therapy until it
was noted to cause many symptoms secondary to excess thyroid hormones
[sic]
T4, [sic]
and T3 [sic]
in the animal
extract."[53] Dr. Guttler wrote that after it was learned that
desiccated thyroid, or "extract," caused overstimulation (a
false statement of fact), "There followed a rapid decline in it’s
use, replaced by T4
[sic].
Extract is now the darling of the alternative medicine set. It still has all
the old problems, and none of the benefits."[53] He made this assertion only a few paragraphs after he wrote, "Marnus-Levey"
[sic]
. . . fed dried animal thyroid glands, the precursor of the
alternative doctor’s beloved Armour, to normal men." He then
wrote that in response to the dried thyroid substance, "there was
marked rise in metabolism." Then, referring to "the powerful
substance causing this increased metabolism," he stated that it
"had beneficial effects on cretins," that "Murray cured
myxedema" with it, and that it was "proven to treat thyroid
gland failure." He then wrote, "Effective therapy for
hypothyroidism was known by the end of the 19th century."[53] "There is no relationship between that entity
[fibromyalgia] and Hypothyroidism
[sic].
End of story."[7] For example, he wrote to Mary Shomon, "Your motto should be
[sic]
We’re
[sic]
patients....
[sic]
not lab values, we want our doctors to ignore 50 years of research, and treat us like
they did in the 1940’s,
[sic]
when therapy was based on symptoms, not
facts."[3] References
Introduction
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