Posted: Mar 09, 2011 3:00 am
NilsGLindgren wrote:Templeton wrote:
An example of this as was stated in the previous thread; True or False-Exercise Makes You Thinner?, the thyroid releases two fat burning hormones T3, and T4, but these must be activated in the liver. If the liver is overstressed then the liver will not activate these hormones. The liver is one of our most important organs and is primarily responsible for filtering toxins from our bloodstream. If the liver is not functioning properly this can affect every organ and system in our body.
However,Overall, the majority of patients with liver disease are clinically euthyroid, and this can be confirmed with a normal high sensitivity TSH test and a normal free T4. The latter test is routinely performed and obviates the need to take into account the variation in thyroidâbinding globulin levels seen in patients with liver disease.
http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/95/9/559.full#sec-6
The liver has a very large overcapacity in everything it does, and, while liver steatosis may be a reality, it does not necessarily follow that the liver has a measurably decreased level of function.
Now now Nils, I'm just a humble country bumpkin with a 4th grade education, and here I'm having to run around looking up words like euthyroid and steatosis - I've always found it easier to communicate to the lowest common denominator.
Clinically Euthyroid - in common parlance means "Normal"
Steatosis - In cellular pathology, steatosis (also called fatty change, fatty degeneration or adipose degeneration) is the process describing the abnormal retention of lipids within a cell. It reflects an impairment of the normal processes of synthesis and elimination of triglyceride fat. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatosis)
I may have erroneously implied that a liver would/could/always? malfunction if under undue stress, which was not my intention, although I would point out that proper liver health is vitally important to the overall health of the human body.
In reply to your link; unfortunately those tests are not always conclusive.
"Thyroid function tests in chronic liver disease: evidence for multiple abnormalities despite clinical euthyroidism."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1420033/