Chiropractors Link
Fibromyalgia to Thyroid Diseases.
In May 2000, DC’s John Lowe and Gina Honeyman-Lowe traveled to Grenoble and Toulon, France as representatives of the
U.S. Fibromyalgia Research Foundation to present a paper at two medical conferences. Their paper contends that up to 90% of fibromyalgia patients have underlying thyroid disease."The importance of the announcement,"
said Dr Lowe, "is that until now, no underlying cause of fibromyalgia was known. This is no longer true. We now know that thyroid disease is the most common underlying mechanism of fibromyalgia."Fibromyalgia is an increasingly common condition
that causes chronic, widespread pain, fatigue and sleep disturbances. Between 2%-12% of the populations of most industrialized countries are afflicted with fibromyalgia. Patients with the condition also suffer from dry skin, cognitive dysfunction and depression, and many female fibromyalgia patients have menstrual abnormalities.Drs Lowe and Honeyman-Lowe first presented their findings
at the International conference of the French Fibromyalgia Association in Grenoble on 6 May. Five days later, they discussed their findings at a Rheumatology and Fibromyalgia conference at the Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal in Toulon.Their paper – ‘Fibromyalgia and Thyroid Disease’
– examines a number of fibromyalgia studies conducted over 10 years. The studies mainly involved multidisciplinary researchers with the U.S. Fibromyalgia Research Foundation; Baylor Medical School in Houston, Texas; the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston; and the Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal in Toulon. Studies conducted by the researchers included extensive laboratory testing of the thyroid gland, pituitary gland and hypothalamus in fibromyalgia patients. The studies also included treatment trials in which patients underwent thyroid hormone therapy and chiropractic treatment.Dr Lowe explained the findings:
"Our studies show that most patients have at least one of three forms of thyroid disease: primary hypothyroidism (due to failure of the thyroid gland), central hypothyroidism (due to the failure of the pituitary gland or the hypothalamus in the brain), or cellular resistance to thyroid hormone. The treatment, to be effective, must be based on the individual patient’s underlying thyroid disease. Rather than involving only the use of thyroid hormone, the treatment must involve an holistic approach to rehabilitating the patient metabolically.""Our finding," added Dr Honeyman-Lowe,
"explains why conventional medical treatments for fibromyalgia don’t work. For most patients, mainly a thyroid hormone deficiency, resistance to thyroid hormone, or both, cause fibromyalgia symptoms. Conventional medications prescribed for fibromyalgia are antidepressants, painkillers and muscle relaxants. Physicians prescribe these in the hope that they will reduce patients’ suffering. But the medications help little, if any, and they don’t correct the underlying metabolic problem."Dr Lowe and Dr Gina Honeyman-Lowe were the only American fibromyalgia researchers invited to present their findings at two French medical conferences.
The full text of "Fibromyalgia and Thyroid Disease" is available for download on the Lowe’s website www.drlowe.com/france.htm or from this site.Users without Internet access can order copies of the study by sending $US1.00 and a self-addressed stamped envelope to the Fibromyalgia Research Foundation, P.O.Box 396, Tulsa,
OK 74101.
