Peat wrote that people with hypothyroidism often experience relief after moving to the tropics as the heat load augments or reduces the need for endogenous heat production.
Is it possible that this also operates in reverse, as in, the environmental heat load is so great that the body lowers its metabolism to avoid producing excess body heat, inadvertently causing the hypothyroid health problems?
I live in the tropics and find the heat and sun utterly exhausting while also causing very poor sleep. People who have been here long-term tend to look unhealthy and weathered, and are often extremely intolerant of "cold": at temperatures in the 20s (ºC) they complain about being "freezing" and unable to warm up without going out in the sun, as if they have turned into lizards.
I also came across a quote from Peat where he mentions, in passing, lowering his use of thyroid because of environmental conditions: "When I had been in Florida and stopped using thyroid because of the heat and humidity, a 2 centimeter diameter mole (jumbo black olive-like) grew in front of my ear during 2 or 3 weeks. A soon as I returned to Oregon I started using thyroid, and the mole immediately began shrinking and fading. About two weeks later, the pale remnant on a dry stalk fell off, without leaving a scar. Since then I have generally recommended just becoming slightly hyperthyroid, " (RP Email Advice Comment: Moles)
It sounds to me like he stopped using thyroid for comfort reasons but didn't experience a hyperthyroid effect on his health due to the heat, only when he went home and began taking thyroid again. Is there any reason to think the body does not do something similar?
Is it possible that this also operates in reverse, as in, the environmental heat load is so great that the body lowers its metabolism to avoid producing excess body heat, inadvertently causing the hypothyroid health problems?
I live in the tropics and find the heat and sun utterly exhausting while also causing very poor sleep. People who have been here long-term tend to look unhealthy and weathered, and are often extremely intolerant of "cold": at temperatures in the 20s (ºC) they complain about being "freezing" and unable to warm up without going out in the sun, as if they have turned into lizards.
I also came across a quote from Peat where he mentions, in passing, lowering his use of thyroid because of environmental conditions: "When I had been in Florida and stopped using thyroid because of the heat and humidity, a 2 centimeter diameter mole (jumbo black olive-like) grew in front of my ear during 2 or 3 weeks. A soon as I returned to Oregon I started using thyroid, and the mole immediately began shrinking and fading. About two weeks later, the pale remnant on a dry stalk fell off, without leaving a scar. Since then I have generally recommended just becoming slightly hyperthyroid, " (RP Email Advice Comment: Moles)
It sounds to me like he stopped using thyroid for comfort reasons but didn't experience a hyperthyroid effect on his health due to the heat, only when he went home and began taking thyroid again. Is there any reason to think the body does not do something similar?
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