Sluggish Thyroid, Triglycerides, CRP, & Blood Pressure

A number of new studies have been making it clear that elevated triglycerides (excess fat blobs in your circulation) and elevated CRP C-reactive protein. It is an acute phase protein that increases during systemic inflammation. It is a general way to assess cardiovascular disease risk. A more sensitive test for heart disease risk is hs-CRP, highly sensitive CRP. (an inflammatory compound made by your liver) are key indicators of eventual heart disease.  I would also like to point out that these markers are clearly linked to sluggish thyroid as well.  In fact, men at risk for heart disease under age 50 have a constellation of symptoms that includes sluggish thyroid¹, high triglycerides, and elevated CRP C-reactive protein. It is an acute phase protein that increases during systemic inflammation. It is a general way to assess cardiovascular disease risk. A more sensitive test for heart disease risk is hs-CRP, highly sensitive CRP. .

There has been an effort to try to better measure these functional thyroid problems.  A new calculation has emerged that is based on multiplying your T4 score by your TSH score.  TSH tells you how hard your brain is working to signal your thyroid to go.  As it rises, even within the normal range, it means your brain is trying to get more thyroid hormone into action. 

T4 levels usually drop in a frank hypothyroidism, as your thyroid gland just can’t make enough hormone.  However, before that happens, T4 levels actually rise.  This is a sign that T4 isn’t getting converted to T3 at the proper rate, in turn making cells behave as if they are receiving “hypothyroid-like directions” as not enough active thyroid hormone (T3) is signaling the cells.  This is the sluggish state of thyroid function, and as TSH levels rise out of the normal range it is called subclinical hypothyroidism. 

Even before subclinical hypothyroidism we have sluggish thyroid, which is accurately reflected by a rise in TSH (even within the normal range) and a rise in T4.  This shows “thyroid resistance” similar to the idea of insulin resistance.  The T4/TSH product is rapidly gaining credibility as a way to predict this early stage of thyroid trouble.

A new study just out shows that the T4/TSH product² is a very accurate predictor of diastolic blood pressure (the lower number), as it progresses from completely healthy into various shades of elevated blood pressure.  This relationship held true regardless of insulin resistance or body mass index, indicating it is an independent risk variable for elevated blood pressure and consequent cardiovascular disease.  This information is important because it shows one of the very first types of changes that happen to a healthy person that start them in the wrong direction on a path of ever-worsening cardiovascular symptoms and problems.
The most common reason for elevating T4 and sluggish thyroid is a lack of the nutrient selenium that is needed to convert the T4 into T3, along with a lack of antioxidants to protect the thyroid gland and liver (the main site of T4 to T3 conversion).  These issues are easily compensated for with good thyroid support nutrition.