I found this article on the following site and would like to share it :

http://www.goodhormonehealth.com/VitaminD.pdf

Vitamin D Deficiency and Thyroid Disease
Theodore C. Friedman, M.D., Ph.D.
Vitamin D deficiency and thyroid diseases

Vitamin D is an important vitamin that not only regulates calcium, but also has many other
beneficial actions. Not many endocrinologists realize this, but several articles published
over 20 years ago showed that patients with hypothyroidism have low levels of vitamin D.
This may lead to some of the bone problems related to hypothyroidism. It was thought that
one of two mechanisms may explain the low levels of vitamin D in patients with
hypothyroidism, 1) the low levels of vitamin D may be due to poor absorption of vitamin D
from the intestine or 2) the body may not activate vitamin D properly. Other articles have
demonstrated that patients with Graves disease also have low levels of Vitamin D.
Importantly, both vitamin D and thyroid hormone bind to similar receptors called steroid
hormone receptors. A different gene in the Vitamin D receptor was shown to predispose
people to autoimmune thyroid disease including Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s
thyroiditis. For these reasons, it is important for patients with thyroid problems to
understand how the vitamin D system works.

Treatment of Vitamin D Deficiency
There are several ways to correct for the depletion of vitamin D, and these would involve
either increasing sunlight exposure or increasing dietary intake. In general, Dr. Friedman
feels there is an ongoing battle between endocrinologists and dermatologists about sunlightexposure, and mild sunlight exposure probably does not have that much of an increased risk
of skin cancer yet would be helpful to prevent vitamin D deficiency. Because of our busy
schedule, many of us do not go outside during the day much and our sunlight exposure is
minimal. Blacks and other dark skinned patients absorb less Vitamin D and need more
sunlight exposure. Dr. Friedman recommends a patient to be exposed to the sun for 15-30
minutes a day, especially in the morning, to correct for vitamin D deficiency. However, in
northern latitudes, little light of the proper wavelength goes through the atmosphere in the
winter, so this exposure needs to occur in the spring and summer at which time stores of
vitamin D are built up. The body has mechanisms so that too much vitamin D can not be
synthesized by prolonged sun exposure. An alternative is to go to a tanning salon for
approximately three times. Another alternative for replacing mild vitamin D deficiency is to
take two multivitamins a day. Each multivitamin contains 400 international units of vitamin
D so a total of 800 international units of vitamin D will correct mild cases of low vitamin D
levels. For more severe levels, the patient can take 50,000 international units of vitamin D
orally once or twice a week. This needs to be given by a prescription. If this treatment
regimen is used, the patient needs to be monitored carefully with calcium and 25-OH
vitamin D levels to make sure the patient is not over replaced with vitamin D. The patient
may need this level of treatment for approximately three months and should be checked
monthly. The main side effect of vitamin D therapy is overtreatment leading to
hypercalcemia

Conclusion
Vitamin D appears to have many effects besides being related to calcium and bone health.
Some patients with low vitamin D levels have fatigue and bone pain, which is easily
reversible with proper replacement of vitamin D. Vitamin D may protect against heart
disease and some types of cancer. Vitamin D may also have some role in regulating the
immune system and also reducing blood sugar levels in patients with diabetes. Proper
vitamin D levels are needed to prevent osteoporosis. In conclusion, proper vitamin D levels
are essential for one’s health, especially if you have thyroid problems. Unless a patient is
exposed to sunlight or foods containing vitamin D, screening for Vitamin D deficiency is
recommended for all thyroid patients.
This article is not intended to offer medical advice and is offered for information purposes
only. Do not act or rely upon information from this article without seeking professional
medical advice.

Sources of Vitamin D
Vitamin D is really two different compounds, cholecalciferol (vitamin D2), found mainly in
plants and ergocalciferol (vitamin D3), found mainly in animals. Both of these hormones
are collectively referred to as vitamin D, and they can either be obtained in two ways. One
is by exposure of the skin to the ultraviolet (UV) rays of sunlight or also from dietary intake.
Vitamin D is found naturally in fish (such as salmon and sardines) and fish oils, eggs and cod liver oil. However most Vitamin D is obtained from foods fortified with Vitamin D,
especially milk and orange juice. Interestingly, as breast feeding has become more popular,
the incidence of Vitamin D deficiency has increased as less fortified milk is consumed.
Vitamin D deficiency may also occur in patients with malabsorption from their intestine,
such as in the autoimmune disease called Celiac Disease, which occurs frequently in
patients with thyroid problems. Multivitamins also contain Vitamin D, as does some
calcium supplements like Oscal-D and Citracal plus D..
Different Forms of Vitamin D and How To Diagnose Vitamin D
Vitamin D itself is inactive and needs to get converted to the liver to 25-hydroxy vitamin D
(25-OH vitamin D) and then in the kidney to 1, 25-hydroxy vitamin D. It is only the 1, 25-
OH vitamin D which is biologically active. This form of vitamin D acts to allow for
absorption of calcium from the intestinal tract. Therefore, patients with low vitamin D
levels will have low calcium and in severe cases get rickets (in children) or osteomalacia (in
adults) which is when the bone bows out and is poorly formed. In mild cases of vitamin D
deficiency, osteoporosis occurs.
The conversion from the 25-OH vitamin D to the 1, 25-OH vitamin D that occurs in the
kidney is catalyzed by parathyroid hormone, also called PTH. Therefore, patients with low
vitamin D levels will have relatively high PTH levels along with low calcium levels. This is
similar to patients with primary hypothyroidism having elevated TSH levels while having
normal thyroid hormone levels. Additionally, the 25-OH vitamin D form which is the
storage form and is much more abundant that the 1, 25-OH vitamin D form which, although is active, is less abundant. Therefore, in states of vitamin D deficiency, low levels of 25-OH
vitamin D are found, but the 1, 25-OH vitamin D levels are either normal or actually slightly
high. They are slightly high because the excess PTH that is stimulated by the low 25-OH
vitamin D levels stimulates the conversion up to 25-OH vitamin D to the 1, 25-OH vitamin
D. Thus, patients that are vitamin D deficient usually have a low 25-OH vitamin D level, a
high PTH level, a low normal calcium, and a normal or an elevated 1, 25-OH vitamin D
level.
Dr. Friedman usually recommends measuring PTH, calcium, and 25-OH vitamin D to
determine if a patient does have vitamin D deficiency. The 25-OH vitamin D assay has a
normal range of approximately 20-60 ng/dL. However, this range may be too low for many
patients. Additionally, the assay may not be that good at measuring the low levels of
vitamin D. In general, Dr. Friedman would recommend treatment of patients that have a 25-
OH vitamin D of less than 30 ng/dL, but these patients should have a PTH in the high
normal range. Optimal levels of 25-OH Vitamin D for patients with thyroid diseases are
probably 35-60 ng/dL It is unclear what to do with a patient with a PTH in the high normal
range and a completely normal 25-OH vitamin D level or the other way around for patients
with a low 25-OH vitamin D level but a completely normal PTH level

Here a few other sources for Thyroid problems.
http://thyroid.about.com/b/2010/12/23/optimal-treatment-hypothyroidism.htm

Optimal Treatment for Hypothyroidism: 10 Practitioners Share Their Unique Approaches

By Mary Shomon, About.com Guide December 23, 2010

http://thyroid.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=thyroid&cdn=health&tm=104&f=00&tt=17&bt=0&bts=0&st=10&zu=http%3A//www.thyroid-info.com/hair

"Mary, my hair loss was stopped cold
by your supplement suggestions in your book. Love you!"
-- Wendy Z, Chicago"
Finally, Help for People With
Thyroid-Related Hair Loss!!
Is an undiagnosed thyroid condition causing your hair loss?
Are you a thyroid patient who is still losing hair, and finding no answers?
The Thyroid Guide to Hair Loss Can Help!
Your hair loss is making you miserable. I know that, because you've come to this page.

And truly, I know exactly how your feel.

I have always had a full head of hair – at least until my thyroid started acting up. Then, it seemed as if I could stuff pillows with the hair that came out during each shower. I went through bottles of Drano, unclogging my hair-filled drains. My hairbrushes looked like Chia-pets after each brushing!

To be honest, I dreaded just running my hands through my hair, because it seemed like each time I did so, 50 more hairs would fall out!

I was pretty sure I’d end up bald.

And the real moment of truth? When my usually thick ponytail became so thin that it was the thickness of a pencil! I remember my mother – and mothers always know, don’t they! – looking at me and saying, “Mary, something’s really wrong with your hair. It’s half gone!”

I knew I had to do something.

So my regular doctor, perplexed and frustrated for me, sent me off for a consultation to a self-proclaimed “specialist” on thyroid disease, who told me that I was losing hair because I was “stressed out.”

Darn right I was stressed out. I was stressed out because I was losing my hair!

But I knew the hair loss had started with my thyroid condition, and worsened when I was taking the drug Synthroid. Dr. “Expert” said that Synthroid had nothing to do with the hair loss. I sat in the car and cried for an hour after that utterly useless appointment.

But the appointment wasn’t totally useless. Because I was so frustrated and angry, I became motivated.

Motivated to study everything I could about thyroid disease and hair loss.

So I read dozens of pages on Synthroid and its side effects. I talked to experts. I researched alternative techniques.

And I found out what was likely worsening my hair loss.

And I took action.

And my hair loss stopped.

Then my hair started to fill back in.

And now, I have hair again.

In fact, here’s a photo of my hair not too long ago. (Nothing fake, no hair extensions, just my own hair! – I will admit to a bit of hair color though! )

I can’t promise that you’ll have the same results, because hair loss has a variety of triggers, and we don’t all respond the same to various treatments.

But I can promise you that after you read The Thyroid Guide to Hair Loss , you’ll understand hair loss, especially as it happens in thyroid patients. And you’ll have an entire list of approaches to discuss with your practitioner, and try, to help deal with your hair loss.

No snake oil. No magic potions. No revolutionary techniques. Just facts from the world of conventional, holistic, and integrative medicine.

I get hundreds of emails and letters each week from readers all over the world, sharing their stories and looking for solutions to their own thyroid and hormonal health challenges.

But one of the things that causes more anguish than nearly anything else is hair loss.

And because so many people have written in desperation, looking for help with hair loss problems, it seemed critical to write this ebook for the millions of you who, like me, deal with hair loss related to thyroid disease and hormones.

Many of you don't even know you have a thyroid problem yet, and for you, I hope The Thyroid Guide to Hair Loss can provide a roadmap that will help you move quickly through the process of recognizing your symptoms, getting diagnosed, and receiving proper treatment.

Finding and properly treating thyroid disease is of course not a complete solution for hair loss for everyone. But it is a solution for some of you, and the health and wellness benefits of getting an undiagnosed thyroid condition properly identified and treated are immeasurable.

There are also many people who, like me, have already been diagnosed and treated for a thyroid condition. But you may not realize that if your thyroid treatment is not the optimized and carefully monitored, your hair may pay the price.

And among thyroid patients, when hair loss continues, you need information.

There's a dizzying array of options – from prescription drugs, to lasers, to herbs, supplements, and more. But in this Guide, you’ll learn about what works for thyroid patients, and what doesn’t, so you can map out an effective plan!

The Thyroid Guide to Hair Loss can be the start of your return to better health – and more hair!!

Live well,

Mary

E-BOOK EDITION
Download Now in PDF Format!

PAPERBACK BOOK:
Order Now from Lulu.com!

PAPERBACK BOOK:
Order Now from Amazon.com!

Ads > Thyroid Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism Cured | Thyroid-Canada.com

Hypothyroidism is Completely Curable with Iodine Supplementation

www.thyroid-canada.com

Symptoms Hypothyroidism | Info.com

Get Info On Symptoms Hypothyroidism Access 10 Search Engines At Once.

www.info.com/SymptomsHypothyroidism

Symptoms Of Hypothyroidism | Ask.com

View Symptoms Of Hypothyroidism; Get Answers Now on Ask.com!

ask.com/Symptoms+Of+Hypothyroidism

Cancer at 17 - Memoir titled 'Would you like your cancer?

' available December 2011

www.wouldyoulikeyourcancer.com

Hypothyroidism | Lifescript.com

Get Updated on Hypothyroidism Facts, Resources, Treatment & More.

www.lifescript.com

Need Parathyroid Surgery? | parathyroid.com

www.parathyroid.com

Award-winning videos teach calcium, parathyroid disease, and surgery.

Parathyroid Disease	Parathyroid Symptoms
Hyperparathyroidism	Normal Parathyroid Function

Treatment For Hypothyroidism | Chatelaine.com

www.chatelaine.com/Hypothyroidism

Learn About The Causes, Symptoms & Treatments Of Hypothyroidism!

Health A-Z	Diet
Fitness	Chatelaine Walks

Hypothyroidism Symptoms? - A.Vogel Thyroid Support | avogel.ca

For optimal thyroid function.

www.avogel.ca/Thyroid

Underactive Thyroid? - Get Support with ThyroPlex.

Free Shipping on any $99 US Order.

www.life-enhancement.com

About these offers: These offers are linked to ads purchased by companies that want to advertise next to relevant content, based on a set of keywords they specify. The offers are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party.