Hashimoto Thyroiditis in Children

My Child Has Hashimoto’s Disease, What Do I Do?

I spoke with a parent yesterday, and she asked me this very same question.

Adults are not the only ones that can develop Hashimoto’s Disease. I have seen Hashimoto’s in a 6-year old, before. Trust me, children can be affected similar to adults.

Does my child have to be on thyroid hormones?

How does managing a child’s Hashimoto’s Disease differ from working with an adult? The answer is simple, the management doesn’t change, at all.

What you must do is look at all of the thyroid markers to determine how to work with the individual. There are a total of 10 thyroid markers that must be evaluated. 10!!! Most doctors only run TSH, T4, and maybe T3. Below are the 10 markers I run on every patient, male, female, adult or a child:

• TSH (thyroid stimulating thyroid)
• Total T4
• Total T3
• fT4
• fT3
• FTI
• T3Uptake
• Reverse T3
• TBG
• TPO-ab

After evaluating all of the thyroid markers, I can determine the following:

• Is the thyroid gland releasing enough hormone?
• Is the hormone (T4) being converted properly to a useable form of hormone (T3)?
• Is the hormone getting into the patient’s cells to run metabolism properly, along with all of the other functions of thyroid hormone?

Ok, so you see the markers, now what do you do to help my child?

Well, that all depends on what the markers are telling us. However, in autoimmune patients, you must look at other “triggers” as well. You must evaluate the following, because if any of these triggers are involved, they will throw off the thyroid glands hormone results:

1. Blood sugar: This is the #1 stressor in the body. If blood sugar is not being managed properly, the adrenal glands will kick and begin to work overtime. Some of you have probably heard of the hormone, cortisol…I will discuss this in a later blog…
2. Infections: Does the patient have an infection that the doctors have missed? This could be in the form of a bacterial, parasitic or viral infection. You will want to get rid of the infection, so the infection is not triggering more autoimmune attacks.
3. Liver and gallbladder function: Oh boy…this is a fun and interesting topic. Did you know that the liver is responsible for 60% of thyroid hormone conversion? Talk about a big job for the liver, on top of its other duties: detoxification of the blood coming from the digestive tract; detoxification of chemicals and drugs; secretes bile; and helps with a lot of hormone (male and female) utilization. I love having patients perform liver flushes. Now, in children, the liver flush will differ from an adult, depending on the age of the child.
4. Inflammation: If there is inflammation, where is it coming from? Inflammation is like a blow torch, destroying the tissue in its path.
5. Food sensitivities: Yes, this really exists. If you have Hashimoto’s Disease, please…stay away from gluten!!! The thyroid tissue’s molecular structure is almost identical to gluten. So, if you consume gluten, your body will attack it, but also destroy more of your thyroid tissue. Put simply, eating gluten will destroy your thyroid gland if you have Hashi’s.
6. Adrenal gland health: the adrenal glands can affect how your thyroid is releasing T4 if they are not working efficiently.

After knowing all of this, can you now help manage my child’s thyroid condition?

YES!!! Think of the above answers as pieces to the puzzle. Now, I can begin to complete the picture (yes, there are other specialty tests that can be run…but, you can start healing the body now).

Being a “natural” doctor, I prefer to use natural herbs and homeopathics to help the body heal. However, I am NOT against a patient being on thyroid hormone, as long as the body is utilizing the hormone properly and not reacting to any of the binders in the medication.

Children can be managed, using natural herbs, and even medications. I will say, that the medications will not work, or the herbs for that matter, if steps 1-6 are not taken care of. This is why patients consult with me. They need help getting steps 1-6 under control.

In the younger patients, controlling the thyroid can be easier than in an adult. An adult has had many, many more years of destruction that has happened to the thyroid. Also, more triggers could be driving an adults thyroid disorder due to the “mileage” on the ‘ole chassis’.

If you would like to talk about the health condition of your children, give my staff a call (866) 375-4641 to schedule your complimentary phone consultation.