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I am pleased to bring you an interview with a wonderful holistic physician, Adrienne Clamp, MD. Dr. Clamp, who formerly worked with my doctor, Kate Lemmerman, at Steinmetz Associates in Alexandria, VA, has moved to a new practice with the Asclepeion Center in Silver Spring. She will be focusing her practice primarily on in-depth problem-solving for patients with thyroid, adrenal and hormone imbalances. Dr. Clamp is herself hypothyroid, so she has a unique perspective to bring to her approach to thyroid diagnosis and treatment. Read the interview with Dr. Adrienne Clamp.
If you are in the Washington, DC metro area, there's a good chance that you might have tried to get an appointment to see Dr. Lemmerman, only to learn that she isn't accepting new patients. But without reservation, I can also equally recommend Adrienne Clamp, and her new practice offers you a wonderful opportunity to get in to see her starting in early September, without a long wait as a new patient! Her new location is convenient to 95, the Beltway, and I-270, and is accessible for patients from MD, DC and VA. (You can call for an appointment at 301-495-0933).
[Dr. Clamp will be starting there in September, so they haven't even updated their web site yet, but you can find out more about The Asclepeion Center at online at their site.]
NEW ZEALAND PROBLEMS WITH ELTROXIN
LOSING YOUR HAIR? HERE'S HELP!
But after talking with dozens of doctors, and researching various options, I've been able to slow, stop and reverse my own thyroid-related hair loss. I've put together all the information I gathered in The Thyroid Guide to Hair Loss. I can't promise that you'll have the same results, because hair loss has a variety of triggers, and we don't all respond the same to various treatments. But I can promise you that after you read Thyroid Guide to Hair Loss, you'll understand hair loss, especially as it happens in thyroid patients. And you'll have an entire arsenal of approaches to discuss with your practitioner, things you can try that may help you resolve your hair loss.
No snake oil. No magic potions. No revolutionary techniques. Just facts from the world of conventional, holistic, and integrative medicine.
There's a dizzying array of hair loss treatment options -- from prescription drugs, to lasers, to herbs, supplements, and more. But in this Guide, you'll learn about what can work for thyroid patients, and what doesn't, so you can map out an effective plan! The Thyroid Guide to Hair Losscan be the start of your return to better health -- and more hair!!
You can get Thyroid Guide to Hair Loss as a paperback from Amazon.com or Lulu.com, or order it as a PDF ebook from Lulu.com, and download it immediately. Get more information on the Thyroid Guide to Hair Loss now.
THYROID CANCER SURVIVORS ANNUAL CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 2008
THE ULTRA THYROID SOLUTION
READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE MEDICAL JOURNAL THYROID, FREE
WARNING: HOT TEMPERATURES AND POWER OUTAGES MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR MEDICATIONS
GRAVES' DISEASE AND HYPERTHYROIDISM INFORMATION
CAN HYPERTHYROID PATIENTS AVOID RADIOACTIVE IODINE (RAI)?
Rather than rush into RAI (which is something that happens to many hyperthyroid patients, even those who are only mildly so, or who are hyper due to Hashimoto's disease!) Dr. Shames has shared valuable information on options for hyperthyroid patients.
THYROID HORMONE DEFICIENCY—AN INTEGRATIVE OVERVIEW FROM DR. JACOB TEITELBAUM
HYPERTHYROIDISM LINKED TO RISK FOR BLOOD CLOTS
NOTE FROM MARY: HOW TO ORDER YOUR OWN BLOOD TESTS
I am very excited to announce that, through a relationship with MyMedLab, you can now order your own thyroid, autoimmune and hormonal lab tests. It's the ultimate tool for empowered patients!! There is no need for a doctor's visit or appointment in order to get your testing done. Anytime you want thyroid tests, you can get them, without a doctor's visit or order, and without costly doctor's office markups.
Through MyMedLab, you can get these same tests at great savings -- from 50% to 80% less than if you paid direct -- and the costs is often far less than your doctor's marked up prices, even after insurance deductibles!
When you order your blood tests through MyMedLab:
More information is available online
I've worked with MyMedLab to put together various test profiles.
Mary Shomon's Recommended Basic Thyroid Profile: Thyroid (TSH)*, Free T4 (FT4), Free T3 (FT3), Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody (TPO), Thyroid Antibody (Anti-thyroid AB)
Patients in New Zealand, whose government sponsored health program offers only Eltroxin-brand levothyroxine as thyroid hormone replacement, are having problems with a new formulation of that drug. Hundreds of patients have submitted complaints to New Zealand's Centre for Adverse Reactions, and many are switching to non-subsidized brands in order to relieve symptoms apparently being caused by the new formula of Eltroxin. Find out more about the problems now.
Are you a thyroid patient who is still losing hair, and finding no answers? The Thyroid Guide to Hair Loss can help!
I get hundreds of emails and letters each week from readers all over the world, sharing their stories and looking for solutions to their own thyroid and hormonal health challenges. But one of the things that causes more anguish than nearly anything else is hair loss. If your hair loss is making you miserable, truly, I know exactly how your feel. I always had a full head of hair -- at least until my thyroid started acting up. Then, it seemed as if I could stuff pillows with the hair that came out during each shower.
The Thyroid Cancer Survivors Association (ThyCa) will be holding its 11th International Thyroid Cancer Survivors Conference from October 17-19, 2008 in St. Louis, Missouri. As always, the event will bring together people being tested for thyroid cancer, newly diagnosed patients, long-term survivors, people with advanced disease, caregivers, family, and friends. The conference will include more than 80 sessions with leading physicians and other specialists in the field.
Find out more about the conference, and how to register.
If you surf the web, you no doubt see a lot of Google ads for this or that thyroid treatment, cure, etc. And like me, you're dubious. But one online guide that is absolutely worth checking out is a new ebook program from Dr. Mark Hyman, called "The Ultra Thyroid Solution: A 7-step Plan to Reverse Hypothyroidism Permanently." Dr. Hyman's program features a number of ebooks, and an online video, focusing on how to manage hypothyroidism from a more holistic, integrative perspective. Since The Ultra Thyroid Solution's "Kick-start your thyroid" Google ads frequently show up on my web sites, readers have emailed me to ask if I actually recommend the program. To find out, I spent some time carefully reviewing the series of ebooks and video, and talked to Dr. Hyman directly to explore it further. I think The Ultra Thyroid Solution it's a valuable resource to add to your thyroid library...find out why now!
The journal Thyroid is an excellent source of the latest conventional medicine studies and research on thyroid disease. Unlike the more theoretical journals, Thyroid frequently has research that has implications for current thyroid treatment. The publisher, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., is making their new July 2008 issue of the journal Thyroid available to read, free. It's a good issue with a number of interesting articles. I've highlighted some of the research from this current issue:
Find out more now.
Summertime may mean fun in the sun, but the sun is no fun for your medications. With summer heat, storms, power outages -- and rising utilities costs -- there's a casualty of the heat we may not realize: our prescription medications -- including thyroid drugs. Getting prescriptions filled by mail order, leaving your medication in a hot car, power failures, pharmacies that turn off their A/C during evenings and weekends -- all can compromise your medications.
If you take any prescription drug, including thyroid medication, you need to be aware of the various ways and places the heat can affect your medication, and what you can do to protect your health.
Hyperthyroidism, and Graves' disease -- the autoimmune disease that causes some cases of hyperthyroidism -- are profiled in a number of new articles I've put together:
Dr. Richard Shames is a doctor I count on to share sound medical advice with a holistic and integrative perspective. This is why I'm happy to be able to feature an interview with Dr. Shames, talking about how some thyroid patients can avoid or postpone radioactive iodine (RAI) treatment for Graves' disease/hyperthyroidism. Dr. Shames is the co-author of several books on thyroid disease -- including ThyroidPower and Fat, Fuzzy and Frazzled -- and
contributed his innovative "Shames Natural Antithyroid Protocol" to my book Living Well With Graves' Disease and Hyperthyroidism.
In this excerpt from his wonderful book From Fatigued to Fantastic! (I consider this book required reading for any thyroid patient who struggles with fatigue or exhaustion) Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum has outlined his approach to dealing with hypothyroidism.
Dr. Teitelbaum -- a holistically-oriented physician with expertise in chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, hypothyroidism, and other immune system dysfunctions -- offers a very detailed integrative approach to dealing with an underactive thyroid, and his critique of thyroid tests and overdependence on them for diagnosis and management of thyroid disease.
ATTENTION UK THYROID PATIENTS: JULY 30TH AM PROGRAM
British thyroid patient advocate Diana Holmes will be appearing on "This Morning" ITV 1 this Wednesday July 30th, with Dr Chris. The program airs between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. If you are interested in the issue and want to share information with the "This Morning" team prior to Diana's appearance can telephone, text or email the program:
And don't forget to watch on Wednesday! Congrats Diana!
According to researchers reporting at the Endocrine Society's 90th annual meeting in San Francisco, "Patients with recent hyperthyroidism may have a more than 10-fold increased risk for venous thrombosis." Find out more now.
Dear Readers,
Testing is provided by LabCorp, a nationwide network of medical testing laboratories. LabCorp is the same provider used by many physicians and hospitals across the US In fact, when you have your blood drawn at your doctor's office, it's very likely that it's being sent to a LabCorp facility for processing.
(Note: patient-ordered testing is not available to residents of NY, NJ or RI)
Mary Shomon's Recommended Thyroid Followup Thyroid Profile: Thyroid (TSH)*, Free T4 (FT4), Free T3 (FT3)
Mary Shomon's Recommended Autoimmune Profile: Complete Blood Count (CBC), Antinuclear Antibody (ANA), Antibody Screen (Ab Screen)
Mary Shomon's Recommended "Thyroid Hormone Breakthrough" Profile: Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP), Lipid Profile (Cholesterol, Triglycerides, HDL, LDL, VLDL and Risk Factor), Estradiol (E2), Progesterone, DHEA Sulfate, Luteinizing Hormone (LH), Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), Prolactin (PRL), Thyroid (TSH)*, Free T4 (FT4), Free T3 (FT3), Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody (TPO), Thyroid Antibody (Anti-thyroid AB)
(*Don't forget that like most labs in the US, LabCorp is still using the old 0.3 to 5.0 normal range for TSH, so be sure that you understand that TSH levels above 2.0 should be interpreted by a knowledgeable practitioner who is up to date on the newest thinking.)
Individual tests, as well as many other non-thyroid tests, are also available at terrific discounts through MyMedLab. Just visit MyMedLab.
And of course, while it's an empowering tool for us to be able to order our own tests, you always want to partner with a practitioner for proper diagnosis and treatment. But I'm very excited that we now have yet another way to take an active role -- or, to work around dysfunctional HMOs and insurance companies -- to help get the care we deserve.
Live well,
Mary
