Endocrinology &
Ethel Jean Saltz
family member. I'm far across the country from both of these folks so
I depend on cyberspace to confirm what I may be mis/understanding.
One had a partial thyroidectomy and the other a complete.
Now from a web site, the endocrine one, I discovered that there's a
communication between the pituitary gland and the thyroid glands
through chemical messengers. I don't retain new information
immediately because I'm going to school and learning new information
everyday and I'm 70YO and have lots of information already on lots of
things. So it's hard to grasp the vocabulary until I use it enough.
BUT, in the long run, vocabulary is essential to speed up
communications. So knowing the names of these messengers would have
speeded my post up a bit.
Anyway, if there's a partial thyroidectomy, then there is still some
communication between the pituitary gland and the thyroids. If there
are no thyroids, how long does it take for the pituitary gland to get
the idea that there is no longer interaction. All this I think is
essential in determining how to proceed after such operations.
Then there's the triune brain. We have 3 operating systems which
interact to help our mind manage our body. What chemicals feed each of
these operating systems. I think this is essential in understanding
how to manage our bodies when we are "perfect" human beings, first.
Then figure out what might happen if we become "imperfect". I just
found out that they have visual proof that the 3 brains do develop
independently in the womb, first the reptilian, then the
limbic/animal, then the rational. So each of us have gone through life
developing one of these operating systems and making decisions based
on which operating system becomes the "master". Sometimes, we change
"masters" throughout life. This has a lot to do with how we produce
our hormones.
So in my own health program, I'm trying to put the priority on
discussing the triune brain first. I haven't done this with my
physician yet. BUT I've had practice all my life because I've always
talked to my brain before I ever prayed to GOD. It's comforting to
know that I've been scientifically correct.
Another new experience for me is having a dog. I now have two. They
are a bichon frise and a toy poodle, both small enough and having the
additional advantage of not spilling hair all over the place which
makes them more easily approachable in handling and observing. What
happens to a dog when it loses it's thyroids.
I think there should be a coming to understanding between vets and
doctors about what are the common traits in the brain systems of both
dogs/animals and humans. Since it is more common to "train" dogs and
since dogs are considered "man's best friend", they certainly are this
woman's best friend now that I've come to live with and love them, I'd
prefer any research to focus on the comparison of dogs and humans. Not
too many monkeys around as pets in this country. And all of this can
be done non-invasively today.
I don't like the current medical attitude, well, it's all different
with each individual and we have to just wait and see how it all works
out. It's like job security. Surely, there have been some PhD and
Master Theses on this facet of the thyroid. And surely, if it is such
a common health problem, then it begs immediate control of the data,
searching for patterns that may become predictors.
Diabetes is one of the oldest diseases known to man. Yet it is only
within the last ten years that attention is being paid to it towards
a cure. And the positive results of this attention is accelerating the
knowledge. I've always thought this was another case of job security.
I am supported by this unpopular idea of discussing job security
because on an interfaith program about what to do about criminals and
jails, one minister pointed out that some cities depend on crime for
their economy, so if there were no jails or criminals, the whole town
would suffer a severe financial depression. It's not a small or
trivial consideration.
The only real expert on our bodies, should be us, because by now,
patterns which end up becoming theories are available, just sort of
hidden as in "geneeza" and "apocrypha". Instead we are brought up on
blind faith.
You notice that I discuss this subject without reference to the fact
that the individual may have diabetes as well as a thyroidectomy, and
in the case of younger females, hysterectomies, not to speak of
bi-polar-disorder. So I like to concentrate on the perfect situation
first. A perfectly normal individual with a thyroidectomy and the
effects. Then we can alter according to the compound factors.
If there is no such thing as a thyroidectomy in the absence of other
problems, then that provides us with a precise fact too. Especially,
for me, in the direction of pharmacology and side-effects.
So does anyone know how the thyroids integrate with the triune brain?
Be-ahavah oo-ve-shalom, Queen Jean of Creekbend
Mac-Niet-Spin-Gal, 390 A.G. (after Galileo/1609)
Worlds Greatest Jewish Thinker - Spinoza-ETHICS
World's Greatest Songs - Psalms in Hebrew
World's Greatest Literature - TaNaK/Old Testament
mailto: nie...@airmail.net
Herman Family
I'm going to have to leave the discussion on the triune brain to some
real experts. I'll just concentrate on the thyroid part.
The pituitary gland (a little pea sized gland nestled under the brain)
reads the level of t4 (levothyroxine) in the blood. If the t4 level gets
too low, then the pituitary sends out some TSH, or thyroid stimulating
hormone. Since you are interested in the technical nomenclature, this is
referred to as a "negative feedback control" (with no connotation about
being good or bad). This is remarkably like when a driver is zipping down
the highway and realizes they are going too slow, so they push down harder
on the accelerator to stimulate the car to go faster. If they are going
just a little fast, then they release the accelerator a bit. We have to
stop the analogy there, because there are no natural "brakes" on the thyroid
system which can be used at will.
Ok, on to more fun stuff. After the t4 is produced in the thyroid
gland, it courses through the bloodstream until it meets up with a receptor
which turns it into t3. The liver does a lot of the conversion. T3 then
zips about helping cells in their metabolism, and giving us energy.
Now, about the effects. If you have too little t4 (and hence t3),
various systems in your body will slow down. As one slows down, another
will slow down to meet it (and so on). To a point, this will include or
seem to include the brain. Remember that a system does not move faster than
its slowest component for very long.
Timing is an interesting issue. The half life of T4 is about 8 days.
Within a couple of days after the thryoidectomy, the pituitary already has
the information it needs to up the tsh levels. I don't know how additive
the tsh levels are, and its clearance rate. I presume that the pituitary
acts primarily as a proportional controller, but since the tsh probably
takes a little time to clear, the net effect will be that of a
proportional-integral (PI) controller. In this case, the some function of
the clearance time could be used as the integral reset time. After several
half lives (about 3 to 4), then the t4 level is in equilibrium with
production (or dosage).
Does that give you some of the information you need?
Michael
Ethel Jean Saltz wrote in message ...
