Autism Treatment – Thyroid evaluation and Autism

The thyroid is a gland that is very important in regards to metabolism in our body. One of the things it does is aid in energy production. We can have an energy production deficiency in our immune system, gut, bones, cardiovascular system including our heart and lungs, or in our brain without good thyroid output. And many of the issues seen in children with Autism are impacted by underlying medical issues. And through research we know that there can be methylation issues that impair focusing and attention and we know that metabolism and energy production can be impacted by mitochondrial problems. Also commonly seen in Autism are digestive issues, immune problems, etc.

Many times thyroid imbalances do not get a lot of attention. And often the thyroid goes under assessed or not assessed at all in regards to Autism. Many times the health of mental health patients can be improved by optimizing thyroid function because in many cases thyroid dysfunction is a contributing factor in patients with bipolar, depression, etc. So I wanted to highlight the importance of the thyroid in the overall health of your child and specifically in Autism.

And what you want to look at when doing a blood test on your child is to have your doctor run a thyroid panel and specifically a free T3, free T4 and TSH which is thyroid stimulating hormone. The free fraction, especially the free T3, is important because that is what is acting physiologically on the cellular level. If the body produces too much reverse T3 that can also inhibit thyroid function so you can also look at the reverse T3 which gets missed a lot. So TSH, free T4 and free T3 are what I recommend.

Where I like to see free T4 and free T3 is in the upper 2/3 of the normal reference range. To replenish thyroid function if levels are really low often times I will use a natural thyroid product like Westhroid or Armour Thyroid. We try and re-establish thyroid function by using it for 6 months to a year. And often we see gains in brain, cognitive and energy function and even growth.

To recap, assessing the thyroid is important and I suggest that when working with a physician and running blood work to be sure to include a thyroid panel, free T4, free T3 and TSH. Anti-TPO and anti-thyroid globulin antibodies are panels you may also want to look at to rule out auto-immune processes that may be happening. If the body is producing antibodies to the thyroid then that means the thyroid is likely being adversely affected by an auto-immune process. That would make up a complete thyroid panel but minimally it is critical to look at the free T3, free T4 and the TSH.