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A few times every day, I find myself explaining to a patient why natural thyroid is superior to Synthroid.
What is Synthroid? What is in it?
Synthroid contains Thyroxine also called T4, which is the identical hormone produced by the thyroid gland. Levothyroxine is the generic form of Synthroid.
Above Left Image: Thyroid Gland on Radionuclide Scan Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
What is in Natural Thyroid?
Natural Thyroid pills are made from desiccated porcine (pig) thyroid glands which contain Thyroxine (T4),T3, T3, T1 and Calcitonin.
Economics of Synthroid
As of 2005, 10 million people in the U.S. take thyroxine. When one considered that Abbott's Synthroid is the most popular form of thyroxine, and the second-most prescribed drug in the U.S., one starts to understand the financial rivalry between Synthroid and natural thyroid competitors.
Left image: chemical structure of thyroxine, T4 courtesy of wikimedia commons.
What Does Mainstream Medicine Say?
Here is a typical statement by Mainstream Medicine found on a popular medical information web site called medicine.net. Armour is a natural desiccated porcine thyroid preparation. Synthroid contains onlyT4.
From Medicine.Net: answering a Viewer Question
What is your feeling regarding natural vs. synthetic replacement therapy in hypothyroid situations? Armour, for example vs. Synthroid? from L.H.
Doctor's Answer:
While it is reasonable to assume that synthetic medications are less desirable than natural counterparts, in this case- natural thyroid hormone replacement is definitely not an ideal solution for the vast majority of people.
Here's why:
