Thyroid T-4/T-3

Thyroid tablets are a potent mixture of compounds, which may dramatically stimulate the production and manufacture of thyroid hormones in the body. Thyroid hormone is reported to enhance metabolic rate resulting in enhanced rates of fat loss.

Thyroid is an excellent fat burner since your metabolism is greatly increased. It also helps to make steroids more effective since it is such a good aid for protein synthesis.

Normally Thyroid is started with a low dosage, about 25 mcgs. per day and increase by about one tab or 25 mcgs, per day every 5-6 days, to max 100 mcg per day. On days that bodybuilder takes multiple tabs, the tabs should be divided evenly across the day (i.e. 100 mcgs. would be 4 doses of 25 mcgs apiece, spread evenly across the day). It is also needed that person cycles down off this product as well to keep the thyroid functioning properly. It is wise not to take Thyroid for more than 5 weeks. After doing a cycle with Thyroid , it should not be taken for 8 weeks, to allow normal thyroid fuctioning to return.

The Thyroid gland is a butterfly-shaped organ located in the neck. Its main function is to produce thyroid hormones, which control the body�s metabolic rate. The Thyroid gland uses iodine (mostly available from the diet in foods such as seafood, bread, and salt) to produce thyroid hormones. The two most important thyroid hormones are thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). While a small amount of T3 is actually made in the thyroid gland, most of it is converted in the tissues from the T4 released from the thyroid gland into the blood. T3 is the active hormone that affects the metabolism of cells. An excess of thyroid hormones (hyperthyroidism) overstimulates the body, resulting in increased heart rate, anxiety, and weight loss, while a lack of thyroid hormones (hypothryoidism) can cause depression, sluggishness, weight gain, and heart failure. Hyperthyroidism is rare (affecting about 1 percent of the population), while mild, subclinical hypothyroidism may be much more common than most people think. Subclinical hypothyroidism is estimated to occur in a significant percentage of the adult American population. One side effect of thyroid deficiency is high cholesterol. It is very possible that many people are being prescribed cholesterol-lowering statin drugs while their underlying problem�low thyroid function�goes unaddressed.

There are a number of approaches to increasing thyroid hormone, including use of synthetic hormones (both T3 and T4) and natural desiccated thyroid hormone from animals. New combination drugs provide fixed ratios of T3 and T4. The choice of which form of thyroid hormone to use is an individual decision. Consequences of Low Thyroid Hormone The vast majority of the thyroid hormone produced by the thyroid gland is T4. However, T4 has only a slight effect on the body�s metabolic rate. The more active hormone is T3. To supply the necessary T3, the liver and other tissues convert T4 into T3. T4 and T3 are essential for regulating metabolic processes throughout the body, including
- maintaining the basal metabolic rate; - making more glucose available to meet the elevated metabolic demands; - stimulating new protein synthesis; - increasing metabolism of lipids and conversion of cholesterol into bile acids, activating lipoprotein lipase, and increasing sensitivity of adipose tissue to hormones that stimulate the breakdown of fat; - increasing cardiac output and blood flow - increasing neural transmission.

The most common test used to measure thyroid function is determination of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. TSH is produced by the pituitary gland; it stimulates the thyroid gland to secrete T3 and T4. TSH is elevated in response to low thyroid hormone levels, while TSH levels are low in response to elevated thyroid hormone levels. While this test is commonly used, and recent improvements have made it more sensitive, there is a good chance that the standard reference ranges used by many laboratories are so wide that many people with subclinical hypothyroidism are not correctly diagnosed. This means that potentially tens of thousands of people suffering from depression, heart disease, or weight gain may be unaware that their conditions are actually due to low thyroid hormone.

Conventional treatment almost always begins with synthetic T4 drugs, including Synthroid� and Levoyxl� (levothyroxine). Low doses are usually used at first because a rapid increase in thyroid hormone may result in cardiac damage. In a study of thyroidectomized rats (rats whose thyroid glands had been surgically removed) treated with levothyroxine alone, no single dose was able to restore normal concentrations of TSH, T4, and T3 in the blood and normalize T4 and T3 levels in all tissues and organs analyzed.

In most tissues, the dose of levothyroxine required to produce normal T3 levels resulted in significantly elevated T4 levels. For some patients, hypothyroidism symptoms persist despite standard thyroxine or levothyroxine replacement therapy. T4 therapy may be no more effective than placebo in improving cognitive function and psychological well-being in patients with symptoms of hypothyroidism, despite thyroid function test scores well within the Instead, only combination therapy, using levothyroxine administered at the same time as T3, is able to restore natural Thyroid hormone levels.

One such combination option is a drug called Thyroid, which combines synthetic T3 and T4 in a fixed 4:1 ratio. Caution should be used, however, in administering T3 to people over age 50 because of the increased risk of cardiac problems due to increased levels of T3. Another T3 option is a drug called Cytomel, which is a synthetic form of T3 and which can be used in combination with T4. A recent study reported that in some hypothyroid patients, the combination of T4 and T3 resulted in improved mood and psychological function compared with monotreatment with T4.