When Bound by Patents the Patient Often Suffers

“The severity of insulin resistance is proportional to the severity of both hyper- and hypothyroidism.”

A lot has changed in the past two decades regarding our health. “An analysis from 2003 of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data showed insulin resistance affects about 22% of United States (US) adults older than 20 years. A more recent analysis of NHANES data from 2021 found that 40% of US adults aged 18 to 44 are insulin-resistant based on HOMA-IR measurements. While obesity rates have increased considerably over the past 2 decades, this rapid increase in prevalence was not only associated with increased adiposity. Hypertension, dyslipidemia, and limited physical activity also increased insulin resistance.”[1] This does not only mean that we became generally sicker but also that we are developing more serious conditions easier and faster.

Insulin is a peptide hormone secreted by the beta cells of the pancreatic islets of Langerhans to maintain normal blood glucose levels. Insulin facilitates cellular glucose uptake, regulates micronutrient metabolism and promotes cell division and growth. The body produces insulin in response to food in our stomach to lower blood sugar levels and to drive glucose into the cell to be used for energy. Insulin resistance happens when this process is disrupted either by hormonal imbalance or dietary choices (good example is the Standard American Diet). In this case the cells do not react to insulin properly, and do not open up, resulting in excessive sugar in the blood. This is why the pancreas keeps trying to regulate the blood sugar by producing more and more insulin but eventually it wears out and is not able to produce large amounts of insulin anymore.

Insulin resistance as a driver of pancreatic cancer

This excess insulin not only leads to weight gain and the development of type 2 diabetes but it also overstimulates and inflames pancreas cells, converting cells to a precancerous state. According to the University of British Columbia (UBC) research[2], there is a link between insulin resistance and pancreatic cancer, which continues to be one of the most difficult cancers to detect in its early stages, with nearly half of patients already facing metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis.[3]

“Pancreatic cancer is currently one of the most lethal diseases. In recent years, increasing evidence has shown that reprogrammed metabolism may play a critical role in the carcinogenesis, progression, treatment and prognosis of pancreatic cancer. Affected by internal or external factors, pancreatic cancer cells adopt extensively distinct metabolic processes to meet their demand for growth. Rewired glucose, amino acid and lipid metabolism and metabolic crosstalk within the tumor microenvironment contribute to unlimited pancreatic tumor progression.”[4]

The connection between insulin resistance and thyroid disorders

“Evidence for a relationship between T4 and T3 and glucose metabolism appeared over 100 years ago when the influence of thyroid hormone excess in the deterioration of glucose metabolism was first noticed. Since then, it has been known that hyperthyroidism is associated with insulin resistance. More recently, hypothyroidism has also been linked to decreased insulin sensitivity. The explanation to this apparent paradox may lie in the differential effects of thyroid hormones at the liver and peripheral tissues level.”[5] We also know that the severity of insulin resistance is proportional to the severity of both hyper- and hypothyroidism. “Thyroid hormones have a significant effect on glucose metabolism and the development of insulin resistance. In hyperthyroidism, impaired glucose tolerance may be the result of mainly hepatic insulin resistance, whereas in hypothyroidism the available data suggests that the insulin resistance of peripheral tissues prevails.”[6]

Not surprisingly, thyroid insufficiency has become a global epidemic. Nearly half of all women and a quarter of all men in the US will die with evidence of an inflamed thyroid. On a global scale, a staggering 200 million people have problems with their thyroid glands. In the US alone, the instance of thyroid disease[7] is running at epidemic levels, which is equally as worrying as the fact that 60% remains undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.[8] Women are five to eight times more likely to have thyroid problems than men. On record, one woman in eight will develop a thyroid disorder during her lifetime.

Medication vs natural solutions

In both cases—pancreatic cancer and thyroid conditions—the pharmaceutical approach is ineffective and actually impacts and worsens the condition. Each drug has several side effects and causes drug interactions. As pancreatitis causes swelling and pain, that requires two specific drugs. The medical answer can lead to surgery because obviously, if you cannot treat the symptoms of the condition, let’s just remove the pancreas. And so they do. Chemotherapy does not work, actually, it may help spread the cancer because it kills the body’s immunity.

Treatment of subclinical hypothyroidism with levothyroxine, though commonly practiced, is not associated with improvements in quality of life or thyroid-related symptoms either. According to a meta-analysis “the use of thyroid hormone therapy was not associated with improvements in general quality of life or thyroid-related symptoms. These findings do not support the routine use of thyroid hormone therapy in adults with subclinical hypothyroidism.”[9]

This is why natural medicine becomes so helpful when treating thyroid conditions. All thyroid products from Life Choice are made of 100% pure pharmaceutical grade all-natural whole raw desiccated tissue concentrate from grass-fed cattle (bovine).

  • For natural thyroid treatment try Thyrodine raw desiccated thyroid gland hormone free.
  • For autoimmune thyroiditis Thyrodine Thyromoto is preferred, produced without iodine—with Hashimoto’s disease iodine intake needs to be restricted.
  • As a homeopathic remedy you can try Thyroid Support, which is a used to help relieve symptoms such as weakness, fatigue, cold hands and feet, dry skin, and chilliness—all of which speak to an imbalance in thyroid gland function.

References:

[1] Freeman, Andrew M. et al. 2023.

[2] Zhang, Anni M.Y. et al. 2023.

[3] Rashad, Noha et al. 2024.

[4] Qin, Cheng et al. 2020.

[5] Brenta, Gabriela. 2011.

[6] Gierach, Marcin et al. 2014.

[7] Minkoff, David. 2018.

[8] According to the American Thyroid Association (ATA), an estimated 20 million Americans have some form of thyroid disease but the numbers are much higher with those border lined with hypothyroidism, the numbers could reach over 60% of the USA population.

[9] Feller M, Snel M, Moutzouri E. 2018.