Dr. Arturo M. Volpe

As many of you have probably read, Synthroid (levothyroxine) is under scrutiny by the FDA and may be recalled. Synthroid had never been approved by the FDA but was nevertheless considered as the “gold standard” for thyroid hormone replacement. In recent years, questions have been raised about the reliability of this medication and lawsuits have been filed against its manufacturer.

Armour Thyroid and similar products are the natural equivalents of Synthroid. Extracted from pig thyroid, they are not perfectly identical to human thyroid hormone but are the closest to it that we have available. Many naturally oriented practitioners recommend that patients switch from Synthroid to Armour or a similar preparation. For some this switch makes no difference, but others feel considerably better and/or are able to reduce their dosage.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1999 (Vol. 340:424-429) compared the effects of these two medications. Although patients in each of the two groups had similar laboratory test results, those receiving natural thyroid extract scored better on tests for cognitive performance, including memory, language and learning. In addition, those receiving the natural product scored significantly better on scales relating to mood and physical status.

Tags: Thyroid issues
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Do you still believe HRT will protect you from heart disease? Think again. The American Heart Association, in an open letter to physicians published in the journal Circulation (July 24, 2001;104:499-503), recommends that heart health should be left out of HRT decisions.

Although HRT has been shown to lower cholesterol levels, preventing heart disease is obviously a far more complex issue. The well-known Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study (HERS), a 4-year trial, showed that conventional HRT actually raised the risk of recurrent heart attack and death during the first year, and then lowered it only slightly. Detailed review of this same study suggests that, over longer periods of time, conventional HRT may further increase the risk of heart disease because it promotes inflammation (JAMA 1998;280:605-613). Another study (Circulation 1999;100:717-722) also found that women on HRT had elevated markers for inflammation and, although cholesterol was down, fibrinogen – a protein associated with blood clots – was elevated.

Tags: Hormone Replacement Therapy
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An excellent review article recently published in the journal Allergy (2001;56:91-102) discusses the current epidemic of allergic disorders in children and its possible causes. In its introduction, the article points out that the prevalence of asthma in children and young adults has tripled or quadrupled over the last two decades.

Although air pollution is frequently blamed, the authors found little evidence in the research literature to support this hypothesis. They also reported that there is insufficient data to conclude that hormones in the food supply or chemicals in the environment play a role.

However, the authors did find evidence that excessive antibiotics and vaccines are likely causes. Though antibiotics clearly have their place and vaccines have helped eliminate such dreaded diseases as polio, the issue is the indiscriminate use of antibiotics and the trend to inoculate infants and small children with every vaccine available.

The article does not discuss this issue, but limits itself to reviewing various studies that have shown a significant relationship between increased antibiotic and vaccine use and the prevalence of allergic disorders.

For example, a Swedish study found a positive correlation between the MMR vaccine and allergies. Numerous other studies have shown that exposure to infectious agents early in life seems to prime the immune system and prevent the development of allergies later on, and both antibiotics and vaccines limit this exposure. It has also been shown that repeated or long-term antibiotics disrupt the normal bacterial balance of the intestinal tract. This bacteria helps us digest foods, absorb nutrients and has the effect of balancing the immune system, thus preventing the onset of allergies.

Tags: Allergies & Asthma, Immune System, Vaccines
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