Our first article discussed the importance of selenium to immunity. Yet there is still another way in which selenium is required for optimal immune function. Selenium is needed by the thyroid gland, and optimal immunity depends on having a healthy thyroid. Hypothyroidism (an under-performing thyroid) impairs immune cells’ ability to respond to a threat. Hypothyroidism has become epidemic. According to Isaac Eliaz, MD, nearly 60 million Americans, mostly women, have thyroid issues; most often hypothyroidism. Many of these people are unaware they are hypothyroid, and this includes lots of people who have been assured by doctors that test results indicate that their thyroid function is normal. The standard thyroid test measures thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). It is assumed that if not enough thyroid hormone is being produced, TSH will start going up in an attempt to force the thyroid to produce more. But that’s not always the case. If your TSH test is normal and you still hav…

Feeling tired all the time? Cold intolerant? Depressed? Constipated? Losing your hair? Do you gain weight easily, or have muscle or joint pain, or are you forgetful and unable to concentrate? These are some of the major symptoms of hypothyroidism, a condition in which your thyroid gland is not producing enough thyroid hormone or not enough hormone is getting into your cells to do its job. If hypothyroidism is a problem for you, you may be surprised to learn that fluoride, which is dumped by the ton into much of our public water, was once used as a medication for deliberately suppressing thyroid function in cases of overactive thyroid. Why are we dumping a thyroid-suppressing drug into our public water?  Good question! Even the government’s National Research Council voiced concern about fluoride’s effects on the thyroid in a 2006 report. They found “clear evidence” that amounts of fluoride at or near levels added to US water present potential risks to the thyroid gland.…