Parathyroid and NIS
For the first 20 years of my practice, I made it routine to get spinal x-rays of all my patients. What always puzzled me was that the “little old lady” with severe osteoporosis would also, more often than not, have costal cartilage that stood out like nobody‘s business because of the dense calcium deposits there. The medical answer to this was calcium supplementation. To me, it wasn’t a matter of not enough calcium, but calcium in the wrong place. Another puzzling thing for me during the early 90’s was the discovery that a large proportion of the population in Australia was vitamin D deficient. It never made sense that in a country with bright sunshine even in the winter, we should be vitamin D deficient. Turns out that there might be a common cause for both these findings. The parathyroids are involved with both of these processes. Not only that - many of the other so-called “lifestyle diseases” that we face as a society, including insulin resistance, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis osteoarthritis, cardiac arrhythmias also have this sneaky parathyroid influence.
The parathyroid glands are four small glands located behind the thyroid gland in the neck. Their primary function is to regulate the calcium and phosphate levels in the blood, which is crucial for maintaining strong bones and teeth, as well as for the proper functioning of the nervous and muscular systems. The parathyroid glands secrete a hormone called parathyroid hormone (PTH), which regulates the levels of calcium and phosphate in the blood. PTH has a half-life of only 3 minutes. This very short timeline is a hint to how responsive to fluctuations in blood calcium the parathyroids must be.
Parathyroid hormone acts on several target organs, including the bones, kidneys, and intestines. In the bones, PTH stimulates the release of calcium into the bloodstream, which increases the concentration of calcium in the blood. In the kidneys, PTH increases the reabsorption of calcium, and it stimulates the production of an active form of vitamin D, which enhances the absorption of calcium and phosphate from the intestines. This results in an increase in the levels of calcium and phosphate in the blood.
In the clinic, we have been seeing the parathyroids being directly or indirectly involved in muscle spasms, gut issues, lymphatic drainage problems, joint & cartilage issues, ligament healing, cardiac rhythm issues, nerve issues like sciatica, blood pressure, substance hypersensitivity, insulin resistance and even hormonal imbalances.
The parathyroid glands are sensitive to chemical disrupters, which are substances that can interfere with the normal function of the endocrine system. Endocrine disrupters can mimic, block, or interfere with the production, transport, or metabolism of hormones, leading to a wide range of health problems.
Chemical disrupters can affect the parathyroid glands in several ways. For example, some chemicals can interfere with the production or secretion of PTH, leading to abnormal calcium and phosphate levels in the blood. Other chemicals can interfere with the binding of PTH to its receptors in the target organs, leading to a decreased response to the hormone. This can result in a decrease in the levels of calcium and phosphate in the blood, which can have serious consequences for bone health and the functioning of the nervous and muscular systems.
One example of a chemical disrupter that can affect the parathyroid glands is bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is a chemical used in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, which are found in many consumer products, including food packaging, water bottles, and medical devices. BPA has been shown to interfere with the normal function of the endocrine system, and it has been linked to a range of health problems, including reproductive disorders, cancer, and obesity.
BPA is by no means the only chemical disrupter we face and you can be sure there are more than we know. To get an idea of the enormity of the problem you can read this scholarly article. The good news is we have recently realized the gland/muscle relationship for the parathyroid glands which allows us to identify the signal breakdown and make the energetic corrections to rectify the functional disturbance. This is an exciting (and rewarding) new development that I feel everyone will benefit from.
Do keep your eye out for notice of times when I will give public talks at the office on “O” Ave regarding this great new development and the scientific principles of NIS.
