27 Oct 2014 | Clinic, News
I’ve been re-reading lots of studies for a talk I’m delivering at ACNEM in Melbourne, investigating the relationship between selenium and a myriad of thyroid pathologies: from hypo- to hyperthyroidism and from subclinical thyroiditis to cancer. The sheer number of trials is overwhelming & increasing, in fact I think there’s more every time I go back and look (!) and the bulk of the findings keep telling us yes! yes! yes!…selenium plays a pivotal protective & corrective role unmatched by any other nutrient. Whether it’s buffering the oxidative stress that comes with high TPO antibodies or lowering antibody titres, preventing or minimising the orbitopathy associated with Grave’s or simply maintaining a better level of T3 in euthyroid individuals, there are numerous potential positive effects from selenium supplementation …in the right patient… and therefore this is the bit we need to be clear about: while the majority of both epidemiological and interventional studies all concur that low selenium levels equate with a greater risk of thyroid issues in all our patients & poorer outcomes in patients with already established thyroid disease, the big question is how low are we talking?? (more…)
29 Sep 2014 | Clinic, FAQ
When I grow up I’d like to be a few different things, forget any ballerina or astronaut aspirations, my list includes a clinical psychologist, an integrative psychiatrist and last but by no means least, an endocrinologist. I’m fascinated by hormones, their regulation & incredible interconnectedness and the longer I’m in practice and the more patients I see with hormonal issues, the deeper I dive into the endocrinology texts (Endocrinology by Greenspan & Baxter is an absolute favourite of mine and you can now purchase this as a download to your computer which is super handy). I think (more…)
2 Aug 2014 | Clinic, News
In spite of several advantages of salivary hormone assessment, one important piece of information you miss out on when you do this rather than blood assays, is the SHBG result. Sex hormone binding globulin is a protein produced in the liver that, as the name suggests, binds our sex hormones rendering them inactive and therefore buffering us against their full potency. They bind the sex hormones to different degrees – the androgens most potently and oestradiol to a lesser extent but curiously it’s higher oestrogen that represents the major hormonal driver of increased SHBG production (including synthetic oestrogens). (more…)
