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"[..]one of the most important functions of the thyroid gland is that of fixing the calcium salts of the body."
"And while many of the symptoms already referred to as marks of thyroid deficiency are present in nearly every case of rickets, it is the "rickety" condition of the skeleton that gives the name to the disease, whether we accept the Anglo-Saxon or the Greek etymology of the word. Probably there is hardly a medical man who has not at some time prescribed calcium in some form for such a case, only to be disappointed in the results. I find, however, that Treves's [?] "System of Surgery" says, "The administration of phosphate of lime is of little use, being mainly excreted in the urine, a proof that want of power to assimilate the lime salts is rather the cause of defective ossification than deficiency of lime salts in the diet."
"I think that anyone who will investigate the evidence already to hand and pursue the subject further on his own account, cannot fail to be convinced that the connecting link is, as Leonard Williams insists, the activity of the thyroid gland."
"[..]it has already been mentioned that enlarged tonsils and adenoids are a confession of thyroid inadequacy on the part of the organism, so we need not marvel if they are put into the pathological picture, which after all only represents some of the various phases of the rickety type. The moral of this is, that when you remove the tonsils and adenoids you must be prepared to give thyroid. But an amazing benefit seems sometimes to accrue to a child as the direct result of the operation. I have wondered whether suddenly depriving the system of this added secretion has not in these cases acted as a powerful stimulus to the thyroid gland. The gland, at one time, unable to secrete sufficiently, was helped by Nature, who provided a substitute, a harmful one no doubt, but still a substitute. So the thyroid took a holiday and got well, but finding the substitute there, had no need to work. When, however, the substitute and its wickedness were removed, the thyroid, now fully capable and under sufficient stimulus, stepped into the breach, and all was well."
"Children with big tonsils and adenoids commonly exhibit another feature of thyroid insufficiency, namely, hypersensitiveness to cold, so they unconsciously adopt the attitude of greatest self-protection namely, with the shoulders and arms thrown forward and a slight stoop. One never sees a man, shivering with cold, yet with head erect and chest expanded, except perchance a soldier on parade. The lateral pressure of the arms on the chest and the generally huddled up position of the shivering child is bound to produce its effect if long continued during the growing period, especially when the bones, though not so soft as in a case of well-marked "rickets," are probably, to some extent, deficient in lime salts."
"Dental caries is a subject of vast importance, and one which is being discussed all over the country at present, though I have not heard any mention of thyroid gland in the discussions; but as Leonard Williams points out, an undue amount of dental caries should always excite a suspicion of thyroid inadequacy."
"[..]endotoxins absorbed from faecal accumulations make still further demands on the already insufficient thyroid secretion and in turn constipation is promoted by thyroid exhaustion."
"calcium [has a] stimulating effect on the thyroid gland"
"Others might suffer from thyroid exhaustion promoted by excess of calcium"
"dental caries, like rickets, is due to a greater or less disability to absorb the calcium provided, owing to inefficiency of the thyroid gland"
"A long family is, I think, in itself a proof of thyroid activity."
"Though always striving to better our condition, we do much that is harmful to the race as a whole. Our poor efforts so often result in the preservation of the unfit for a time at least long enough for them to propagate their kind and pass on their unfitness to the next generation. Our business is to trace the origin of this unfitness if possible, and, as far as may be, strive to counteract, even if we are unable to eliminate it."
"I have no doubt that the suckling babe gets the benefit of its mother's thyroid secretion, acting through the milk, during the early months of life."
"[..]thyroid deficiency is a factor in the production of baldness or loss of hair"
"As to the manner in which calcium acts as a stimulant to thyroid activity, I think it is largely a question of antagonism, a dose of calcium calling for thyroid secretion in much the same way as a dose of carbonate of soda calls forth the acid secretion of the stomach. The analogy may be pressed further. If the dose of sodium bicarbonate be excessive, the stomach may not be able adequately to respond, and the contents may remain alkaline for some time, though in the absence of pathological conditions the acid-secreting cells soon gain the upper hand. So with the thyroid. Small doses of calcium use up the available secretion, and the natural result is that the thyroid sets to work to make more. If the dose be repeated too frequently a period of exhaustion will follow. The exhaustion may be of short duration and the thyroid may quickly regain the upper hand. But if the exhaustion be prolonged, Nature sets to work to remedy the defect by installing more powerful machinery, in other words, enlarging the gland, or possibly organizing a system of continuous secretion, which, effectively done, would naturally produce Graves's disease. The fact of temporary exhaustion is, I think, well illustrated by Sir Almroth Wright's researches on the calcium content of blood in relation to coagulability. He found that calcium salts given for a few days increase the calcium coefficient and raise the coagulability of the blood. But if the dosage be continued the coagulability actually falls below normal. The most probable explanation of these phenomena would appear to be that the first doses of calcium stimulate thyroid activity, by which they are duly absorbed and received into the blood-stream. After a few days, however, the thyroid gland, owing to exhaustion or self-protective and inhibitory impulses, refuses to maintain work at this high level and is now unable even to absorb so much calcium as formerly from the food supply."
"I had a patient in whom a few doses of calcium lactate so exhausted an already inefficient thyroid as actually to induce what I believe to have been a transient phase of myxoedema."
"It is an interesting fact that the headache from which so many women suffer, especially after the period is over, may be benefited, or eliminated, by the administration of calcium."
"[..]shortage of iodine is much more likely to occur as the result of excessive use, rather than deficient supply. The causes of such excessive use, in other words, the causes of excessive output of thyro-iodine, and resulting thyroid exhaustion, are still somewhat obscure. We have already made mention of the influence of ovarian, and possibly uterine activity at puberty, in childbearing, and at the menopause. Also of the influence of lactation, and of various diseases which induce thyroid exhaustion."
"Any condition which makes a sufficiently prolonged demand on thyroid activity will tend to produce hypertrophy, or goitre. But the greater the natural activity of the gland, the less will be the need for hypertrophy. Therefore when goitre occurs, it is either a confession of inadequacy, or a protest against excessive dissipation of thyroidal products."
"It is a significant fact that thyroid deficients have an instinctive dislike of meat."
"Eczema is one of the many diseases for which thyroid medication has been advocated."
"[..]thyroid activity is Nature's method of dealing with certain toxins (which in this case were the cause of eczema), and therefore in some cases where the toxins have gained the upper hand, the thyroid secretion is possibly inadequate and may be usefully supplemented. This is of course the rationale of the thyroid treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, which is probably due to toxins of intestinal origin. Other debilitating influences have frequently been noted. These may very well induce thyroid exhaustion and so allow full play to toxins, which might be efficiently dealt with by an adequate thyroid."
"The victims of Graves's disease are usually remarkably immune from ordinary infections."
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