I have always been interested in holistic medicine. Even as a teenager, I read and studied many different healing modalities. Given my love of medicine and my participation in competitive sports, it was no surprise to anyone that I became a Certified Athletic Trainer and physical therapist. Over the past 20 years in my healthcare career, I have worked in many different settings. The constants in my career have been interacting with people in pain and using all of my knowledge/skills to assist them in restoring maximum function.
I have a special interest in working with people who experience chronic pain. As happens with many people, it took my own experience to propel me to study and learn more about how to best help this patient population. In 2007, I became very ill with what was later diagnosed as Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. This is an autoimmune illness (AI) caused by the body mounting an attack on the thyroid gland in an attempt to destroy it. For those who have not heard of this illness, the thyroid is a major part of the endocrine system. It is a gland that makes and stores hormones that help regulate the heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and the rate at which food is converted into energy. Thyroid hormones are essential for the function of every cell in the body. They help regulate growth and the rate of chemical reactions (metabolism) in the body.
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In conventional medicine autoimmune disease is a chronic life-long health condition that is considered to be incurable. This is what we are led to believe. However, a new discovery in the field of autoimmunity gives not only hope but opens new treatment opportunities.
Hashmotos, Selenium and Iodine, Part Two