THE TRUTH ABOUT THE THYROID

The big day has arrived and you wake up early. You dress carefully, eat as much breakfast as your stomach will allow, leave a message for your boss to remind him that you will be late. In the car on the way to the doctor's office, you feel a flutter of hope at the thought that the next time you get behind the wheel, you'll have a little more control over your life.

Maybe you'll finally get answers to all your questions: why do you have sleep problems; why you can't control your weight; why you suffer from brain fog ; why do you feel like your hair is thinning or are you constantly tired. You hope to finally get some explanation for the hot flashes, cold hands and feet, brittle nails, dry skin, heart palpitations, restless legs, impaired memory, blurred vision, muscle weakness, hormonal imbalance, dizziness, pins and needles, tinnitus, unexplained pain, anxiety and depression. In the waiting room, you can barely focus on the magazine in your lap as you wait for your name to be called.

The moment is coming. You are led into the examination room where you take a seat and try to breathe slowly. A few minutes later the doctor comes in and after a short friendly conversation you get the verdict: "You have Hashimoto's thyroiditis".

There is some relief in the fact that you at least have a name for what ails you... and yet that name gives no clue as to what the problem is. "What is this?" - you ask.

"The blood tests we just received showed an increased presence of antibodies against the thyroid gland. Along with the elevated thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, the enlarged thyroid gland that appeared at the last examination, and the hypothyroid symptoms you are exhibiting, all it shows that your immune system is out of whack. This mess is called an autoimmune reaction, and it means your body attacks your thyroid gland as if it were a foreign body. This inflames the gland and destroys it over time, gradually reducing its function. "

You travel back from the doctor's office and you don't feel like you've got answers or any control over your problems, but rather you feel betrayed. How could your own body let you down like this? What did you do wrong to deserve an immune system attacking yourself? You no longer know what you can trust when you can't even count on your body to be on your side.

Perhaps the above scenario does not fully describe your thyroid story. Maybe instead you've been diagnosed with Graves' disease, an autoimmune disease that your doctor says causes your thyroid to overwork.

Or you've been told you have primary hypothyroidism—an underproduction of thyroid hormones that can be detected by a blood test or felt intuitively by a functional medicine specialist who can read the signs. You may have been told you have a thyroid nodule, a cyst, or even a tumor.

Maybe when you first visited the doctor, the tests and physical exams showed nothing wrong. Then you went to doctor after doctor as you searched for answers and still found none. You have started to lose faith in doctors and in yourself. For a while, you even thought the symptoms were all in your head. Then you decide to educate yourself on the latest medical literature and come to your own conclusions about what is going on with your health. You've tried changing the way you eat and have felt some relief, although your days are still rough and you still don't feel completely well.

You may have been worried about seeing a doctor about the fatigue, anxiety, brain fog , and dizziness. You have read several articles about the thyroid gland and wondered if it is the cause of your illness.

Or you are close to someone with persistent, unexplained symptoms or a known thyroid condition. You watch from the sidelines how horrible this chronic illness is, and you wish you could make it all go away and have the healthy, vibrant friend or relative you knew back.

Or maybe you're a doctor whose heart breaks when you see patient after patient with chronic pain or discomfort. You are aware of the new theories about autoimmune diseases and thyroid health. You read symptoms well, you don't take blood tests as the final answer, you offer your patients the latest tools to deal with chronic diseases, and you witness when drugs don't bring relief, all the while waiting for that breakthrough research that will solve the mysteries once and for all of the thyroid gland.

If your story is similar to any of the above scenarios, you're not alone—you're one of the millions facing the mysterious symptoms that modern medicine is beginning to associate with thyroid disease. While your story is your own and the specifics of your experience are unique and personal, you have a lot in common with a brave and tireless group of people who won't settle for anything but the absolute truth about thyroid health.

Why would your body attack itself? If thyroid problems are genetic, why have they only become more common in recent generations? How is it possible that all your physical suffering is a figment of your imagination or some kind of whim of the universe?

There must be a more meaningful explanation, you think. There must be revelations to make sense of it all, you're sure of it.

And you are right.

Be assured that your symptoms and illnesses are not your fault.

Did you hear?! We'll say it again because the opposite self-delusion is extremely powerful: your symptoms and illnesses are not your fault.

You did not create your illness. You did not attract or provoke him. You didn't make it up. You are not sick because you are crazy, lazy, weak-willed, flawed, or bored. You didn't provoke your symptoms with bad thoughts or because you were fixated too much on the fear. You are not descended from a defective genetic heritage. You don't subconsciously hold back your treatment because you secretly crave the attention your illness brings. Your suffering is not a punishment from God or the universe, nor is it karma coming back to punish you for something you did in this life or in another life.

Likewise, your body has not failed you. Thyroid symptoms and diseases are not your body rebelling against you. It would never betray you. All your body does is work around the clock to support you because it loves you unconditionally.

THYROID VIRUS - EPSTEIN-BAR VIRUS

The pathogen that Anthony William calls the "thyroid virus" is the same one that causes mononucleosis: the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) . A virus that's easily picked up in college when sharing drinks and restrooms, that's linked to kissing and can leave a person with constant fatigue, fever, and a sore throat for months... Does that sound like mononucleosis (a.k.a. like glandular fever or the "kissing disease")? Because that is how it is.

Modern medicine has not yet discovered that mononucleosis is only the second stage of this virus, that in fact the virus has four stages, the third of which targets the thyroid gland, which accounts for over 95% of the problems with it. (The remaining 5% of thyroid problems come from radiation exposure due to chest x-rays, dental x-rays, CT scans, contamination of food and water supplies, air travel, cell phones, inherited radiation from our relatives , as well as from continuous atmospheric radiation emissions from past nuclear disasters).

More detailed information about the Epstein-Barr virus can be found in the articles:

Epstein-Barr Virus (Part One)
Stein -Barr Virus (Part Two)
Herpes viruses

TYPES OF EPSTEIN-BAR VIRUS

Epstein-Barr is a virus in the herpes virus family that has been around for over 100 years. In that time it has passed through many generations of humans, mutating into many different varieties and strains along the way. These strains, as Anthony William shares in his books , number over 60 and can be categorized into six groups of increasing severity, with approximately 10 varieties in each group. So far, medical research and science have found strains of the virus in only one of these groups.

Some strains of EBV (those in group 1) are very mild and slow-moving. They can never lead to anything more than back pain and can never reach the thyroid gland. Other strains of EBV are more aggressive and fast-growing. They are responsible for some of the most devastating diseases of our time, including multiple sclerosis and various cancers. If you would like to learn more about these EBV groups, Anthony William covers them in more detail in the Epstein-Barr Virus, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia chapter of his first book, The Healing Medium .

These different varieties of EBV explain why the virus manifests itself so differently in different people. They also explain the wide range of thyroid problems. For example, goitre develops as a result of the first viral strain of group 1. On the other hand, hyperthyroidism and Graves' disease are caused precisely by the EBV varieties of groups 4 and 5. These are aggressive strains that prompt the thyroid gland to produce extra thyroid tissue in self-defense, which in turn leads to overproduction of thyroid hormones. EBV strains of groups 4 and 5 are also the cause of thyroid cancer (more on how thyroid cancer develops, coming soon in a separate article - "Thyroid Cancer"). Meanwhile, benign tumors, nodules, and cysts can be caused by EBV strains from groups 2 to 6. And Hashimoto's thyroiditis and hypothyroidism can be caused by any strain of EBV from any group.

STAGES OF EPSTEIN-BAR VIRUS

As we have already explained, EBV has four stages, and thyroid disease develops in the third stage. Understanding all the stages in more detail can help you better understand what you went through and what you want to prevent.

First stage: Latent stage

When a person first contracts EBV or is born with it, the virus is in the bloodstream and usually remains dormant. If you are infected with EBV, at this early stage, it probably would not be visible. The most severe symptoms you may experience are mild listlessness, very mild fatigue, and a slightly greater susceptibility to colds, colds, sore throats, and earaches. In some people with mild cases of EBV or those with strong immune systems, the virus will remain in this latent stage, dormant in the bloodstream and causing little or no discomfort, for the rest of their lives.

For those who have contracted stronger strains of EBV that eventually cause thyroid problems and more, this is just the beginning. In these cases, the virus silently multiplies in the blood, growing for days, weeks, months or many years, waiting for the right circumstances and the right triggers to develop into a second stage: mononucleosis, followed by infection of organs such as the liver liver and spleen.

Second Stage: War Stage

EBV often awakens and enters a second stage, which begins with mononucleosis, when a person has become seriously ill. That's why college is the best time for students who are partying late and studying, and whose diets have deteriorated since leaving home, to get mononucleosis. Of all the diseases that run rampant in colleges and universities, none is more common or more widespread than mononucleosis—in other words, early stage two Epstein-Barr virus. It is not known that 70% of all students contract mononucleosis within four years of study.

It's entirely possible to get mononucleosis before or after college. If you're dealing with a thyroid problem now and have no memory of ever having mononucleosis, consider the possibility that you contracted it as a young child. Although nowadays doctors begin to diagnose mononucleosis in children at the age of 6-7 years, traditionally this diagnosis is given to older people. For the most part, it is considered "wrong" or at least unusual to diagnose mononucleosis in a child under the age of six, regardless of what the blood tests show. This is a classic regulatory problem in medicine that is holding back progress. In infants and young children, mononucleosis has often been mistakenly called "rheumatic fever" or "glandular fever," although it is actually the same disease: a second stage of infection with the EBV virus.

What happens during mononucleosis is that your body's immune system fights the Epstein-Barr virus. At this point, instead of being hidden as it was in the first stage, when it didn't cause any problems, EBV now starts releasing a chemical that tells your immune system that there's an invader - it's like a war alert signal. EBV's goal here is to destroy your lymphatic system because that is your body's defense mechanism. Your immune system responds by sending identification cells to "tag" the virus cells with a hormone that marks them as invaders in the blood and lymph. It then sends out soldier cells to seek out and kill the tagged virus cells.

While this battle is being fought, a person experiences the symptoms of mononucleosis, from mild to severe, depending on which strain or variety of the virus they have. These symptoms, such as a sore throat, fever, headache and rash, are not signs that your body is rebelling against you. They are actually signs of the strength of your immune system trying to protect you. Sometimes these symptoms come and go. This is because at certain times the immune system manages to contain the virus, then it has to rebuild its resources to fight the next battle.

Third stage: Thyroid stage

At this stage, some people experience what looks like another mild attack of mononucleosis. It won't show up as mononucleosis in blood tests because you've already had mononucleosis once before, so doctors will most likely notice the antibodies indicating a past infection and therefore determine that it can't be active at the same time.

Meanwhile, the virus becomes very active again, filling the liver with toxins that are released into the lymph system and bloodstream and confuse the lymphocytes that protect the thyroid gland. These are lymphocytes specifically designed for the thyroid area (and tonsils if needed). Medical studies and science have not yet discovered that the thyroid gland has its own personal immune system and that these thyroid-specific lymphocytes are a major part of it. Over time, the virus will distract and deplete the overall immune system to the point that the thyroid's own immune system will be called upon to spread to other parts of the body to help, eventually causing these special lymphocytes to leave thyroid area. It is like the general's officers withdrawing from the camp to go to battle, leaving the general exposed to danger in his tent. With thyroid lymphocytes concentrated elsewhere, EBV cells can take advantage and invade the thyroid gland.

Once the virus takes up residence in the thyroid gland, mononucleosis symptoms will disappear as the virus begins to burrow deep into the thyroid tissue, causing thyroid problems that are so often confused with aging, autoimmune diseases, and menopause. At this point, the mature viral cells have actually changed their shape, allowing them to literally pierce the thyroid tissue, killing its cells and leaving scars.

Fourth stage: Stage of mysterious disease

As with the transition from the second to the third stage, some viral cells stay behind and cause problems at this point, even when the frontline viral cells have moved on to other areas to cause problems there. In other words, when the virus begins to affect a person neurologically, it usually continues to damage the thyroid gland plus burden the organs it has already targeted in the second stage. Epstein-Barr can even go from stage three to stage four in just one day, meaning it can begin to attack the thyroid and central nervous system almost simultaneously.

Fortunately, many people never reach this stage. With the help of the information in the Healer Medium's books, you can prevent a first, second or third stage variety of EBV from reaching this most destructive stage. And if you have reached the fourth stage, do not be afraid - you have the opportunity to heal. The battle can be won.

As more and more mutations make their way into the population, many more people, at ever younger ages, will get here to Stage Four - if they don't have someone in their lives to share the truth about these conditions. So many people in their teens and early teens face mysterious symptoms such as fatigue, confusion, anxiety, depression, despair, stomach aches and "racing" thoughts. Sometimes these problems are ignored, sometimes they are explained away as exuberant youth, and sometimes they are given diagnoses such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, candidiasis, or depersonalization. These diagnoses are often accompanied by prescriptions, which, however, often do not help because they do not address the true underlying viral problem. In a number of cases, young people are misdiagnosed, and what is really happening for many sufferers is that they are actually entering stage four of EBV.

THE REAL PURPOSE OF THE THYROID GLAND

This little gland in the front of the neck isn't the metabolic regulator that everyone thinks it is. The thyroid hormones discovered so far and those yet to be discovered do not directly control weight, regulate hunger, ignite libido, or increase your energy. This concept of metabolism is too simplistic and outdated. Metabolism is simply the name of the ancient discovery that the body is in a constant state of internal exchange and movement. It is the discovery that we are alive. It's one of those blanket terms that hides the fact that not much is known about it yet.

The true function and purpose of the thyroid gland is actually much more interesting than modern medical understanding of it. The truth is that the thyroid gland is the information center of the body. She is the second brain. Here's what's most interesting: even when it's damaged by Epstein-Barr virus or surgically removed, the thyroid gland can still perform this essential job. Since the rest of the endocrine system is equally well developed, it can replace other parts of it.

As a data center, the thyroid catalogs all the markers of homeostasis in your body. (Homeostasis is the state of physiological balance between your body's various systems—it means everything when it comes to your health.) Your thyroid gland records what balance looks like, feels like, and works for each of you. Messages from every organ and every gland are relayed to the thyroid gland – when needed, like complaints. Like the Human Resources department of a company, the thyroid processes these reports, collecting and recording data about what's working well in your body, what's not, what's toxic, and what's not.

Then, day after day, the thyroid gland uses its memory of homeostasis to send out radio frequency-like waves (not yet discovered or measured by modern medicine) that delegate tasks and responsibilities throughout the body to keep everything in equilibrium. Your thyroid, which is self-sustaining and self-sufficient, uses its intelligence for your personal homeostasis to constantly recreate it for you, so that when one body system is overloaded or compromised, another kicks in to compensate. Because the thyroid gland sends different frequencies to different parts of the body as needed, it may even provide them with energy - energy that has yet to be weighed or measured by medical research and science.

For example, when the liver loses strength due to disease, the pancreas has to work harder. The thyroid picks up on this message and sends additional frequencies to the liver to realign and support it, while giving the pancreas additional energy to support.

Even when the thyroid itself is compromised, it can still perform these vital functions.

THYROID HORMONES

Of all that the thyroid gland does, its least important job is to produce the hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). Remember that medical studies and science are only theorizing about the effects of T4 and T3 on health. The functions of these hormones cannot yet be weighed or measured in any laboratory or study. The physical purpose of T4 and T3 is still a medical mystery and no one has the right to admit or dispute this. This is another theory that is held to be true and law and the door to its investigation is closed - this is what Anthony William calls a closed-door theory. Although the medical community has until now considered the production of these hormones to be the most important function of the thyroid gland, theorizing that these hormones have a role in the metabolism of every cell, this is not the case. Yes, the thyroid does have a role in regulating all of your cells through its work to promote homeostasis, although this is not entirely dependent on T4 or T3.

The known thyroid hormones are not the most significant. Think about it: If insufficient production of thyroid hormones was really the defining aspect of so many thyroid diseases, then why wouldn't the disease go away when someone started taking hormone replacement drugs? Ask the millions of women on thyroid meds if they no longer struggle with weight gain, hair loss, hot flashes, insomnia, etc. since starting the hormones. down the list. Some of them may have felt some improvement while taking the medication – in most cases because they improved their diet and exercise programs at the same time. However, the vast majority of these people will say that their symptoms have not gone away. That's because these symptoms are viral, not hormonal, so hormones don't fix them.

T4 and T3 still play a role in your health. Science is not aware that their true functions are to keep the immune system balanced to prevent under- or over-reaction to stimuli, help maintain body temperature, and support the pancreas. However, there are very few actual symptoms that occur when the thyroid gland does not produce enough of these two hormones.

Essentially, T4 and T3 are steroid compounds, and when the thyroid is underactive and weakened, your body has built-in mechanisms to compensate for this loss. Your thyroid sends a help signal to the rest of the endocrine system and other support organs. For starters, a healthy, functioning liver will have a "storage container" of T4 that it can also convert to T3, so it will release these hormones if the thyroid is underactive and struggling. In fact, the conversion of T4 to T3 in the first place is much more a function of the liver than of the thyroid gland. If you've heard that you're having a conversion problem, know that it's related to your liver—it's probably overloaded with EBV, combined with other toxins like pesticides and heavy metals or prescription drugs. Liver dysfunction is the real cause of thyroid hormone conversion problems.

If your liver is compromised due to EBV or other factors, your pancreas will increase the release of the hormone insulin to help convert T4 to T3, as well as the production of enzymes to boost the digestive process. In addition, your adrenal glands will kick in with their own, specially designed steroid mix to replace and mimic the reduced thyroid hormones. (This adrenaline mixture will not be detected as thyroid hormone in blood tests because it is of a slightly different composition. Since no one is aware that the body has this hormone replacement system, blood tests are not designed to detect it and she stays off the radar). The end result is that in most cases you are protected from feeling the effects of reduced thyroid hormone production.

Thyroid-related hormones known as thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) also play a role, and the body also has powerful ways of replacing them when something goes wrong. The TSH is the school bell that tells everyone to go to class. It is produced by the pituitary gland and is responsible for telling the thyroid gland to produce T4 and T3. And TOH from the hypothalamus is what tells the pituitary to release its hormone in the first place.

In this case, the hypothalamus is your body's defense mechanism. If something happens to damage the pituitary, the hypothalamus can actually mimic TSH, calling on the thyroid to produce T4 and T3. This is another of the body's reserve systems. In rare cases, the Epstein-Barr virus attacks the hypothalamus, interrupting this process, but this is very rare.

Most important in the work of the thyroid gland is its function of institutional memory and peacemaker between all organs and glands, and for this it does not require T4 or T3 or their signalers TOX or TSX. Rather, the thyroid gland produces two additional thyroid hormones that have yet to be discovered by medical research and science: Anthony William calls them R5 and R6. (There's a good chance that research will call them that, too, though even if they give them a different name, they'll be the same hormones). They play a key role in the radio-like frequencies that the thyroid emits in its messages and monitoring of the body.

More safety measures are in place here. These hormones can practically not be exhausted, and the liver keeps a reserve of them. And as with other thyroid hormones, the adrenal glands can produce adrenaline mixtures that mimic R5 and R6 when needed.

We tend to stick with what we know and focus on it. It's like sunlight provides us with a whole host of health benefits, yet the focus is only on vitamin D. The medical fixation on current thyroid medications plus the famous T4, T3, TSH, and TOX hormones will one day subside , as new research emerges about additional thyroid hormones and the true, basic function of the thyroid gland in your body. Right now, we're still at the level of, "Here, take that pig or synthetic thyroid and be on your way." We have come this far in over 100 years. Someday, medical research will piece together the missing pieces of the puzzle of the true purpose of the thyroid gland in the body. In the meantime, you know it, and this is critical to your healing.

THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ADRENAL GLANDS

Now back to the thyroid virus. What does all this mean in relation to EBV? That you are extremely resilient. Despite all the disruption the virus tries to create by targeting the thyroid gland, it cannot destroy it. Your thyroid and the backup systems that support it are too developed for EBV. Even if your thyroid is gone because the virus has damaged it so much that you've had it surgically removed or "killed" with radioactive iodine, it can still do its job.

All of this compensation that the body has to do when EBV goes after the thyroid creates some problems elsewhere. First, the EBV attack shakes the immune system, then begins to wear it down. This is one of the goals of EBV: to try to disrupt homeostasis and throw off the immune system.

And when the thyroid doesn't produce enough hormones, the adrenal glands (the most important part of the endocrine system) must push out the replacement steroid we mentioned earlier. It's a truly remarkable process: Think of the adrenal glands as the most advanced chef or chemist on the planet, able to formulate an exact recipe to mimic the missing ingredient. It's really remarkable how these fake thyroid hormones are actually shape-shifting chemicals that replace exactly what your body needs. This is why people can walk around with hypothyroidism and not experience a single symptom - even from hidden EBV. The adrenal glands both compensate for low thyroid hormones and give you extra juice to function while the virus tries to wear you down. No matter how depleted or tired your adrenals are, they will always compensate for your thyroid. This mechanism is built into the human body and the only factor that can prevent it is if something terrible happens to the adrenal glands and you lose them completely.

This compensation process of the adrenal glands is absolutely necessary. You could not function without it. The downside is that, as I mentioned before, the Epstein-Barr virus loves all that extra adrenaline; it is one of his favorite foods. So, even though your body is doing a miraculous job of keeping itself in balance so you can get through each day, EBV isn't ready to give up. It's still hungry, and it's still targeting your central nervous system—unless you know how to stop it.

An important step in understanding EBV well enough to stop it is discovering how and why your specific symptoms and conditions occur. Now that you know about the triggers of EBV, its types and stages, and how powerful the thyroid and the systems that support it are - now that you see that the thyroid was never behind your illness, it's time to see the details of how the virus has been behind your symptoms and conditions all along. You are about to discover one of the most important elements of how to finally heal yourself.

Materials from Anthony William's book "Healing the Thyroid Gland" were used for the article. Coming soon on our blog, more articles on the topic!

Other Thyroid Articles:

"Thyroid diseases - how it all begins" ;
"Thyroid Diseases - Explaining Your Symptoms (Part 1)" ;
"Thyroid Diseases - Explaining Your Symptoms (Part 2)" ;
"Thyroid Diseases - Explaining Your Symptoms (Part 3)" ;
"Thyroid cancer" ;
"[Video] Do you have Hashimoto's thyroiditis? - Anthony William talks" ;
"Anthony William on Life Without a Thyroid Gland" ;
"Anthony William reveals the truth about iodine" ;
"Anthony William reveals the truth about zinc" ;
"Powerful healing foods for the thyroid gland" ;
"Medicinal herbs and nutritional supplements for the thyroid gland" ;
"How celery stem juice helps with thyroid diseases" ;
"Tea for the treatment of the thyroid gland" ;
"Medicinal broth for the thyroid gland" ;
"Medicinal juice for the thyroid gland" ;
"Medicinal Thyroid Smoothie" .