Cholesterol Can Drop Dramatically With T3 Therapy

A low body temperature can easily explain high cholesterol levels.  To us, a low body temperature indicates a slowed metabolism.  An abnormally slow metabolism can occur in hypothyroidism due to inadequate production of T4, but more often, it is due to inadequate conversion of T4 to T3 inside the cells of the body.  Since most of this T4 to T3 conversion happens intracellularly, it is invisible to thyroid blood tests.  That’s why people can have low body temperatures even when their thyroid blood tests are normal.  Studies show that people with inadequately treated hypothyroidism are more likely to have high cholesterol.  We have seen this is also true for people with Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome (low body temperatures and normal thyroid blood tests). That’s because when your metabolism slows down your body’s ability to process cholesterol also slows down. Low thyroid function is associated with a reduction in the number and activity of LDL receptor sites on cells. These are “docking stations” that allow cells to remove LDL cholesterol from the bloodstream. When receptor sites aren’t working right, LDL accumulates in the bloodstream, and can deposit on blood vessel walls.

The connection between thyroid and cholesterol has been well-known for decades but is being forgotten.  Before thyroid blood tests were invented, doctors used cholesterol as the test for hypothyroidism.  If you had a high cholesterol, doctors would usually conclude that you had low thyroid function.  Now, however, doctors have been trained by pharmaceutical companies to think, instead, of cholesterol lowering drugs. When most doctors see that you have high cholesterol, they don’t think to test your thyroid function or monitor your body temperature. They almost invariably prescribe cholesterol-lowering drugs for people with high cholesterol, regardless of their thyroid/T3 status.

That can be a problem, because statin drugs can make hypothyroidism worse. And worsening hypothyroidism can create a vicious cycle for people. It can lead to higher cholesterol, the need for more statin drugs, worsening thyroid function, and, well, you get the picture.  Also, people with low thyroid function are more vulnerable to the adverse effects statin drugs such as muscle breakdown (myositis.)

In our experience, cholesterol levels usually improve dramatically upon normalization of the body temperature.  Our experience, and the literature suggest that T3 can often lower cholesterol more dramatically than T4. When people start taking T3 therapy for Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome, their cholesterol levels can often drop to normal within a month.  After treatment, their temperatures and cholesterol can often remain improved even after the treatment has been discontinued.

Thyroid problems, adrenal fatigue, and nutritional deficiencies can all contribute to low body temperatures.  Click here to locate a doctor trained to prescribe T3 to treat Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome.

References

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