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Your Thyroid and How to Keep it Healthy: Second edition of The Great Thyroid Scandal and How to Avoid It
In this updated (2012) second edition of this acclaimed book, you will learn how to recognize thyroid dysfunction and its many associated problems. Do you have a constant battle with weight? Do you have inexpicably high cholesterol? Do you feel cold and tired all the time? Is your hair thinning? Do you feel very low, or even depressed? Do you have a fertility problem? Dr Durrant-Peatfield will help you to assess your symptoms systematically and then take an active part in your own treatment, which may include understanding digestive and nutritional issues, including food intolerance and systemic candida.
276 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2002
32 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
Barry Durrant-Peatfield
2 books2 followersBarry Durrant-Peatfield (November 1936 – 27 August 2023) was a British medical practitioner specialising in metabolic disorders namely, hypothyroidism.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 24, 2019
This is the third book about hypothyroidism that I have read, so most of the information was familiar, but I still learned a few things from it:
- Dr. Durrant-Peatfield recommends diagnosing hypothyroidism based first and foremost on symptoms. Yes, he does measure his patients' hormone levels and if the TSH is higher than 2.5, this is evidence enough for him, if the hypothyroid symptoms are there as well. But if the test results are unremarkable, while the patient is clearly symptomatic, Dr. Durrant-Peatfield starts treatment based on the symptoms only;
- He asks all his patients to take their basal body temperature and pulse in order to monitor their progress;
- His estimate is that approximately 30% of all middle-aged people are hypothyroid;
- He pays a lot of attention to adrenal insufficiency and insists that it must be addressed in order for replacement thyroid hormones to work;
- He is a proponent of NDT and/or T4+T3 or even T3 only, if necessary, and states that T4-only therapy works only in mild cases of hypothyroidism;
- Dr. Durrant-Peatfield discusses other hormones (estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, DHEA) and replacement therapy, too;
- He insists that high cholesterol levels are often caused by hypothyroidism;
- He realizes that thyroid hormone levels must be corrected for weight loss to occur in a safe manner; calorie counting simply slows down a person’s metabolism even further;
- He recommends the Atkins diet for weight loss, even though he advises modest fat consumption and caution with saturated fat intake;
- He points out that the thyroid and the uterus are somehow connected, because hypothyroidism can cause heavy periods and/or fibroids, and hysterectomies often lead to hypothyroidism;
- He quotes Dr. David Derry who claims that good thyroid hormone levels, including when achieved by means of hormone replacement therapy, protect women from getting breast cancer.
All in all, I would recommend this book, although I disagree with Dr. Durrant-Peatfield as far as saturated fat is concerned.
- Dr. Durrant-Peatfield recommends diagnosing hypothyroidism based first and foremost on symptoms. Yes, he does measure his patients' hormone levels and if the TSH is higher than 2.5, this is evidence enough for him, if the hypothyroid symptoms are there as well. But if the test results are unremarkable, while the patient is clearly symptomatic, Dr. Durrant-Peatfield starts treatment based on the symptoms only;
- He asks all his patients to take their basal body temperature and pulse in order to monitor their progress;
- His estimate is that approximately 30% of all middle-aged people are hypothyroid;
- He pays a lot of attention to adrenal insufficiency and insists that it must be addressed in order for replacement thyroid hormones to work;
- He is a proponent of NDT and/or T4+T3 or even T3 only, if necessary, and states that T4-only therapy works only in mild cases of hypothyroidism;
- Dr. Durrant-Peatfield discusses other hormones (estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, DHEA) and replacement therapy, too;
- He insists that high cholesterol levels are often caused by hypothyroidism;
- He realizes that thyroid hormone levels must be corrected for weight loss to occur in a safe manner; calorie counting simply slows down a person’s metabolism even further;
- He recommends the Atkins diet for weight loss, even though he advises modest fat consumption and caution with saturated fat intake;
- He points out that the thyroid and the uterus are somehow connected, because hypothyroidism can cause heavy periods and/or fibroids, and hysterectomies often lead to hypothyroidism;
- He quotes Dr. David Derry who claims that good thyroid hormone levels, including when achieved by means of hormone replacement therapy, protect women from getting breast cancer.
All in all, I would recommend this book, although I disagree with Dr. Durrant-Peatfield as far as saturated fat is concerned.
August 11, 2011
For anyone who has struggled with mainstream medicine in the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid and/or adrenal conditions, this book is a must-read. Informative, comprehensive and extremely helpful. Read this and you will probably know more than your own GP about what is going on in your own metabolic system, and how to treat it.
December 16, 2017
A most interesting book written in an understated English way. The author is a specialist nutritional practitioner for thyroid who was previously a medical doctor. There's a lot of information here, it's a dense read but designed for the lay reader. Some of the topics are controversial, but you can make your own mind up. You'll be better informed for reading this book.
November 2, 2019
‘Your Thyroid’, subtitled ‘and how to keep it healthy’, is the second edition of ‘The Great Thyroid Scandal and How to Survive it.
I expect readers may be curious about why I read and reviewed this book. It’s a short story, but you can skip it if you want to go straight to the review.
A writing friend posted a plea for signatures on a petition to the NHS to have certain blood tests made both free and available for certain conditions. Her short blurb accompanying the request said she’d been diagnosed with a thyroid condition and she mentioned this book as a source of information she described as vital to all such sufferers. By pure coincidence, I’d been diagnosed with sub-clinical hypothyroidism only a few months earlier, so, trusting my friend’s judgment, I investigated. As a result, I bought the book.
Here’s my review.
First, this isn’t an easy book: it details the causes, nature and possible outcomes of thyroid-based conditions in enough detail to cause some sufferers anxiety. It also provides scientific evidence, using chemical equations and fairly esoteric information, to explain exactly how problems with this vital glandular system may occur, present, and perhaps be overlooked by most NHS GPs.
It also, however, gives a good deal of practical advice on how best to deal with the symptoms and consequences of the conditions. There are two basic issues with the thyroid: over-active, often accompanied by weight loss, and under-active, often resulting in weight gain. But there are clinical reasons why those two outcomes are not always present and may, in fact, sometimes produce their direct opposites!
I was diagnosed with a version of the condition that’s common (more common than many GPs accept), in that my thyroid is under-active. I have Hashimoto’s disease, also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, which is a progressive attack on the thyroid. It’s more common in women of a certain age, but can affect men and children. It’s an autoimmune condition; the third I’ve been diagnosed with. I had Sarcoidosis when I was 28 (very little was known about it at the time. I was treated for 18 months with prednisolone, a steroid involved in reducing inflammatory conditions and autoimmune disorders). When I was 54, I was diagnosed with ME/CFS, another autoimmune condition (though many practitioners treat this sometimes fatal condition as a form of depression. Simple analysis confirms that ME/CFS sufferers are likely to become depressed as a result of the condition, rather than depression causing the disorder. But self-interest among psychiatrists plays a role in ensuring many patients fail to receive the treatment they really need). I recovered from ME/CFS after a period of 10 years.
Understanding I’m likely to deteriorate without proper treatment, I read this book and am now taking steps toward self-help, since the NHS is unfortunately quite blind about the reality.
I was sceptical about the author’s analysis of the situation; fearing he might have some connection with those dreadful profit-driven medics who rule in the USA, as he runs a private clinic. However, research has shown what he says about the poor understanding displayed by the NHS is exactly that. Also, his reference sources are multitude and pretty convincing.
I found the descriptions of the chemical processes involved in the gland’s failure a little difficult, but was able to grasp the essentials. I fear readers with little scientific experience may find these parts incomprehensible, but they can be skipped, providing you’re willing to accept the conclusions of an acknowledged expert.
There is a good deal of sound advice as to how patients can best help themselves in the absence of medical assistance. The standard treatment is confined to an artificial form of what the thyroid naturally produces; a drug called Levothyroxine. But, on its own, this is insufficient to properly control the condition and may do little to improve life for the patient. Other aspects, such as nutrition and supplements, play important parts in not only dealing with the paucity of necessary hormones but in actively improving the situation for patients.
In the 20 chapters and 5 appendices reside a great deal of substantial information, help, guidance and some warnings. This is not only a book explaining the condition, it’s a manual intended to help you help yourself.
The author believes, from his clinical experience, reading, and long association with other experts in the field, that as many as 30% of the UK population may be subject to some degree of thyroid disfunction (the NHS puts it at around 2%).
So, if you have a constant battle with weight, have high cholesterol, feel cold and tired all the time, have unexplained hair loss, often feel low or even depressed, and have either low sex drive or fertility problems, (not necessarily all of these) you’re well advised to see your doctor for the necessary blood test and, importantly, a proper clinical diagnosis. Don’t expect the blood test to be the end of the process (thyroid tests are still notoriously unreliable). Read this book and then see what you can do for yourself, unless you’re blessed with a medical practitioner who understands the problem thoroughly and is willing to provide the necessary support, of course.
I expect readers may be curious about why I read and reviewed this book. It’s a short story, but you can skip it if you want to go straight to the review.
A writing friend posted a plea for signatures on a petition to the NHS to have certain blood tests made both free and available for certain conditions. Her short blurb accompanying the request said she’d been diagnosed with a thyroid condition and she mentioned this book as a source of information she described as vital to all such sufferers. By pure coincidence, I’d been diagnosed with sub-clinical hypothyroidism only a few months earlier, so, trusting my friend’s judgment, I investigated. As a result, I bought the book.
Here’s my review.
First, this isn’t an easy book: it details the causes, nature and possible outcomes of thyroid-based conditions in enough detail to cause some sufferers anxiety. It also provides scientific evidence, using chemical equations and fairly esoteric information, to explain exactly how problems with this vital glandular system may occur, present, and perhaps be overlooked by most NHS GPs.
It also, however, gives a good deal of practical advice on how best to deal with the symptoms and consequences of the conditions. There are two basic issues with the thyroid: over-active, often accompanied by weight loss, and under-active, often resulting in weight gain. But there are clinical reasons why those two outcomes are not always present and may, in fact, sometimes produce their direct opposites!
I was diagnosed with a version of the condition that’s common (more common than many GPs accept), in that my thyroid is under-active. I have Hashimoto’s disease, also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, which is a progressive attack on the thyroid. It’s more common in women of a certain age, but can affect men and children. It’s an autoimmune condition; the third I’ve been diagnosed with. I had Sarcoidosis when I was 28 (very little was known about it at the time. I was treated for 18 months with prednisolone, a steroid involved in reducing inflammatory conditions and autoimmune disorders). When I was 54, I was diagnosed with ME/CFS, another autoimmune condition (though many practitioners treat this sometimes fatal condition as a form of depression. Simple analysis confirms that ME/CFS sufferers are likely to become depressed as a result of the condition, rather than depression causing the disorder. But self-interest among psychiatrists plays a role in ensuring many patients fail to receive the treatment they really need). I recovered from ME/CFS after a period of 10 years.
Understanding I’m likely to deteriorate without proper treatment, I read this book and am now taking steps toward self-help, since the NHS is unfortunately quite blind about the reality.
I was sceptical about the author’s analysis of the situation; fearing he might have some connection with those dreadful profit-driven medics who rule in the USA, as he runs a private clinic. However, research has shown what he says about the poor understanding displayed by the NHS is exactly that. Also, his reference sources are multitude and pretty convincing.
I found the descriptions of the chemical processes involved in the gland’s failure a little difficult, but was able to grasp the essentials. I fear readers with little scientific experience may find these parts incomprehensible, but they can be skipped, providing you’re willing to accept the conclusions of an acknowledged expert.
There is a good deal of sound advice as to how patients can best help themselves in the absence of medical assistance. The standard treatment is confined to an artificial form of what the thyroid naturally produces; a drug called Levothyroxine. But, on its own, this is insufficient to properly control the condition and may do little to improve life for the patient. Other aspects, such as nutrition and supplements, play important parts in not only dealing with the paucity of necessary hormones but in actively improving the situation for patients.
In the 20 chapters and 5 appendices reside a great deal of substantial information, help, guidance and some warnings. This is not only a book explaining the condition, it’s a manual intended to help you help yourself.
The author believes, from his clinical experience, reading, and long association with other experts in the field, that as many as 30% of the UK population may be subject to some degree of thyroid disfunction (the NHS puts it at around 2%).
So, if you have a constant battle with weight, have high cholesterol, feel cold and tired all the time, have unexplained hair loss, often feel low or even depressed, and have either low sex drive or fertility problems, (not necessarily all of these) you’re well advised to see your doctor for the necessary blood test and, importantly, a proper clinical diagnosis. Don’t expect the blood test to be the end of the process (thyroid tests are still notoriously unreliable). Read this book and then see what you can do for yourself, unless you’re blessed with a medical practitioner who understands the problem thoroughly and is willing to provide the necessary support, of course.
January 14, 2015
In-depth book on all matters connected with the thyroid. The author was antiquated in some of his writing style but the science generally was accessible to the lay person though it is a complex area to understand.
May 14, 2011
Written for the English market I believe this book got the author in a heap of hot water. Belongs to the 80/20 books, 80% ground breaking & 20% crackpot. But again which is which?
March 17, 2019
You can feel his compassion throughout this book and as someone who has been trying to get diagnosed for more than one year now, I am thankful for him writing it as it opened my eyes on many things. Too bad he is 83 years old now and doesn't see pacients any more.
Read
December 23, 2010not as useful as I had hoped!
July 22, 2011
Really interesting book with some fresh tips and ideas. Especially the parts about vitamin sensitivity, toxin sensitivity and how to limit and controll both.
November 4, 2014
A must read for anyone with thyroid problems.
January 7, 2015
informative
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews