The Importance of Thyroid and the Aging Process

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A properly functioning thyroid gland is important to good health as we age. Testosterone fixes many of the hormones that are missing: it stimulates growth hormone, it improves oxytocin, helps the adrenal system, and activates the pituitary gland. So many hormones are made better, but thyroid is not improved when a person gets the correct amount of testosterone.

Thyroid is your body’s furnace, it gives you the heat you need to process every enzyme in your body. Women’s body temperature should be close to 98 degrees, while men operate better around 98.6. Every cell in the body needs thyroid to make energy out of blood sugar and fats. If the thyroid is under-active, known as myxedema; our tissues fill with water and we lose hair. Another sign of low thyroid is a bulge right above the collarbone—a goiter—caused by the thyroid enlarging itself, trying to keep up.

Thyroid can also be over-active, (hyperthyroidism), which causes symptoms including a fast pulse, high blood pressure, high body temperature, fast metabolism, weight loss, trouble sleeping and more. If it goes untreated the thyroid will burn out.

We treat low thyroid by replacing it. We treat high thyroid by trying to shut it down with PTU or radioactive iodine. Half my patients come in with a low thyroid.

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