Thyroid Stimulating Hormone May Be Future Osteoporosis Treatment
New animal studies just released have shown that thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) may help prevent -- or even reverse -- bone loss due to osteoporosis. The studies showed that intermittent injection of TSH prevented bone loss, increased bone strength, and even restored lost bone in the test animals. TSH is the pituitary hormone responsible for helping maintain the actual levels of thyroid hormone in the body, and the thyroid gland's release of actual hormones. While the function of TSH was thought to be only in relation to the thyroid, this new research shows that TSH is directly connected to bone development and the process of replacing old bone with new bone.
While there had been concerns that the injected TSH could raise thyroid hormone levels and cause unwanted hyperthyroidism, this did not happen in the animals.
Doctors are interested in the possibility of using TSH in humans, but further research will be necessary. In particular, the issue of whether TSH injections will cause hyperthyroidism, and how to balance the risk factors with possible bone-strengthening benefits, will need to be evaluated.
Source: Sun, Li, et. al. "Intermittent recombinant TSH injections prevent ovariectomy-induced bone loss," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2008 105: 4289-4294; published online on March 10, 2008, <http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/105/11/4289>
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Comments
I would like to see the actual evidence and read the study for this as it sounds well dodgy to me. In another report of this I read they had removed the rat’s thyroid glands to cause the osteoporosis but perhaps that was bad reporting. As I say, I’d like to read all of the research on this. Too much does not add up.
My doctor thinks that hypOthyroid is just as bad for bones as hypERthyroid. He thinks that undertreating is just as bad as overtreating. It has proven correct in my case, as my TSH has gone down to practically nil, my frees have gone up to the upper quartile. I feel well and my bone density has improved….with no osteo meds.
Perhaps by injecting TSH, the true result is increasing frees to a good level (not hyper) and THAT is what is improving the bone density.
I understood, from reading up on lots & lots of Hypothyroid info (also Mary Shomon’s Forum)…
That Osteoporosis is hard to prevent when taking Thyrax (Synthroid in the US??), even at the ‘perfect’doses …
But that there have been no reports yet, on early onset of Osteoporosis, in Hypo-patients taking Armour Thyroid (perhaps due to the T3?? …)..
Curious about any comments!
Sincerely,
Ira, The Netherlands
Ira,
I would have to say the reason why Armour is so much more effective in preventing osteoporosis is because it contains calcitonin (albeit, we don’t know exactly how much since Forest pharmaceuticals is not required to measure it). Here is an interesting statement from a research article I found: “There is rich anecdotal evidence that subcutaneous calcitonins, namely salmon, eel, porcine, and human calcitonins, all significantly increase bone mineral density and, in doing so, likely reduce fracture risk..” You can read more at this link:
http://www.jci.org/110/12/1769?content_type=full
From my own experience, I suffered from back problems for most of my adult life (I am 37) and was started on Syncrap when I first found out I was hypoT two years ago. Since I started Armour a year and a half ago, my back problems have improved significantly! I no longer need to see a chiropractor once a month. That is testimony in itself, at least to me.
Best wishes!
Bonnie
Hello Bonnie,
Thank you for the info, and …..
Since I’m taking Armour, I also do NOT have to visit my Fysio/Manual Therapist (same as Chiropractor in U.S.?) any longer …
Most of my muscle/nerve & joint-pains have disappeared …
On ‘adequate’& even high doses of Thyrax (synthetic T4) with, or without Cytomel (synthetic T3)…I kept having these pains …
Ira