Optimal Levels Of TSH Are Much Lower Than Official Guidelines

[haidut]

Most doctors and especially endos would not touch thyroid function unless TSH exceeds 5. However, as per Peat's advice, this study in HEALTHY people concluded that healthy TSH levels are likely below 2 and anything above that may be indicative of a metabolic problem, especially elevated cortisol.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3520819/

"...Results suggest a positive relationship between TSH and cortisol in apparently healthy young individuals. In as much as this relationship may herald a pathologic disorder, these preliminary results suggest that TSH levels > 2.0 uIU/L may be abnormal. Future research should address this hypothesis further, for instance through an intervention study.

 

[schultz]

I was a little disappointed to see that no other articles cited this one, as a follow-up would be very interesting. Do you know of any other articles discussing the TSH/Cortisol relationship?

 

[haidut]

I was a little disappointed to see that no other articles cited this one, as a follow-up would be very interesting. Do you know of any other articles discussing the TSH/Cortisol relationship?

Oh, yes the relationship is well known and is usually due to stress. Here are two more studies.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1569828
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7710600

I think Peat is right once again that TSH is a stress hormones and needs to be kept as low as possible.

 

[charlie]

 

[Bodhi]

Strange...

My TSH is around 5 and my Cortisol is a bit low...

 

[haidut]

Strange...

My TSH is around 5 and my Cortisol is a bit low...

What about prolactin, serotonin or estrogen? Any of these is correlated with TSH and could be elevated instead of cortisol. If these are elevated and cortisol is still low it could be underactive adrenals.

 

[docall18]

Oh, yes the relationship is well known and is usually due to stress. Here are two more studies.
Acute psychological stress increases plasma levels of cortisol, prolactin and TSH. - PubMed - NCBI
Acute and chronic effects of winter swimming on LH, FSH, prolactin, growth hormone, TSH, cortisol, serum glucose and insulin. - PubMed - NCBI

I think Peat is right once again that TSH is a stress hormones and needs to be kept as low as possible.

What about a totally suppressed TSH?

I presume this is bad? My TSH has been very low and I get high E2. I have read that hyperthyroidism can cause gyno.

 

[jyb]

Strange...

My TSH is around 5 and my Cortisol is a bit low...

Conversely, the lowest TSH I reached was below 0.1 and that was at a time when I was very unhealthy (didn't do blood tests for cortisol, but symptoms speak for themselves).

 

[Elderflower j58]

No hope for me then,according to the hunt study and doctors ignore the evidence,.

 

[Giraffe]

No hope for me then,according to the hunt study and doctors ignore the evidence,.

Conlusion from the Hunt study:

This study shows that CHD mortality increases in women with increasing levels of thyrotropin within the reference range. These results indicate that relatively low but clinically normal thyroid function may increase the risk of fatal CHD.

I think it is worth mentioning that the reference range for thyrotropin (TSH) is 0.50 to 3.5 mIU/L. So the upper limit of "normal" is already lower than in most countries.

Thyrotropin Levels and Risk of Fatal Coronary Heart Disease

 

[Kyle Bigman]

Most doctors and especially endos would not touch thyroid function unless TSH exceeds 5. However, as per Peat's advice, this study in HEALTHY people concluded that healthy TSH levels are likely below 2 and anything above that may be indicative of a metabolic problem, especially elevated cortisol.

Elevated thyroid stimulating hormone is associated with elevated cortisol in healthy young men and women

"...Results suggest a positive relationship between TSH and cortisol in apparently healthy young individuals. In as much as this relationship may herald a pathologic disorder, these preliminary results suggest that TSH levels > 2.0 uIU/L may be abnormal. Future research should address this hypothesis further, for instance through an intervention study.

Haidut, is there any pathological reason for low TSH, like some condition where the body will reduce TSH to compensate for some other overactivity, for example maybe of adrenals?