Info about Thyroid Disease
ENVIRONMENTAL TREATMENT OF THYROID PROBLEMS
ENVIRONMENTAL TREATMENT OF THYROID PROBLEMS
Thyroid function can be altered by many substances in the environment, including herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides, organohalogen compounds (such as polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (PHAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and chemicals in cigarette smoke These agents can all disrupt the delicate working of the body's hormones, including those involved in thyroid function.
* Herbicides and Pesticides
You should limit the use of these products around your work and home environments, especially when there are small children present. Any substances that affect thyroid function can be particularly disruptive for children, given the importance of thyroid hormones in fetal and childhood development. Try to choose organic foods as much as possible. These foods, when certified by a reputable regulatory body, are free of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers and other contaminants.
* PCBS AND PHAHS
Polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PCBs) and polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (PHAHs) are human-made compounds that are used in plastics, transformers and in other industries.
They can disrupt the body's hormonal system. The two PHAHs which are most commonly implicated in thyroid problems are polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PCBs) and dioxins. They share a similar structure with natural thyroid hormones and may interfere with thyroid function by imitating the natural hormones, rendering actual thyroid hormones inactive.
PCBs and PHAHs are common environmental contaminants, despite recent efforts to remove them. The production of PCBs was banned in the US in 1977, but people can still be exposed to them through contact with old transformers, capacitors, fluorescent lighting fixtures and old electrical devices and appliances. The most common source of exposure for people is from contaminated food, such as predatory fish that have been caught in contaminated waterways.
Dioxins are found everywhere in the environment, and most people are exposed to very small background levels of dioxins from the air, food or milk, or have skin contact with dioxin-contaminated materials. For the general population, more than
90 per cent of the daily intake of dioxins comes from food, mainly meat and dairy products and fish.
PHAHs require a long time to degrade in the environment and become concentrated in higher levels of the food chain (bioaccumulation), especially in the fatty tissues of animals. Bioaccumulation occurs when PHAHs enter the soil or water and contaminate plants which are then eaten by animals, which in turn are eaten, until even the largest predators are affected.
To reduce exposure to PHAHs, you should choose low-fat meat products and trim excess fat off meat. Also, limit or avoid eating predatory fish or fish from sources known to be contaminated with PHAHs.