I’ve been noticing several articles coming out the past week about a strong association between hypothyroidism and a twice the risk of liver disease and liver cancer, especially in females. And then it dawned on me: another strong reason to play basketball with your trashcan using your lousy Synthroid, Levoxyl, Levothroxine or Eltroxin bottles while being replaced with desiccated thyroid.
In other words, continued hypothyroidism (being on the lousy T4 meds) and undiagnosed hypothyroidism (because of the inadequacy of the TSH lab test) can potentially promote the development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a more severe Fatty Liver disease. The next progression is liver cancer, aka hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Even worse, the study revealed that women who had been hypothyroid for more than 10 years had a threefold higher risk of liver cancer compared to women without a history of thyroid disorders. This will make you pause when you consider how many reports there are of patients having hypothyroid symptoms for YEARS with a normal TSH…and a clueless, TSH-worshipping doctor.
And if reading this bores you, understand that your liver is a HIGHLY important gland that you can’t live without. It plays a key role in detoxifying the toxins you ingest and breath in daily (including smoking), besides being a major fat burner. Make the liver diseased, and you become a breeding ground for toxins, the rise of other diseases…then death.
The solution? Run from TSH-kissing doctors, get on desiccated thyroid like Naturethroid et. al. and avoid the most common mistakes of dosing while ceasing to smoke, curtailing the alcohol, and eating healthy (except for the daily dose of chocolate I gotta have. haha).
P.S. The original report came out in the May journal issue of Hepatology (published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases). Similar results were also reported in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 2005.
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See below about my disappointment in Forest Pharmaceuticals. 
Lily said:
May 19, 09 at 8:16 amWere the people with Liver Cancer in the study on T4 only medication or did they have high TSH levels?
Unless you can say that for sure, don’t assume that the addition of natural thyroid medication would reduce the elevated risk of liver cancer within this cohort.
I am on your side, I just prefer that you not make unnecessary assumptions or imply a correlation where one doesn’t exist.
Lily said:
May 20, 09 at 1:32 pmWas I the one that you think disagress with you? I don’t disagree with you that dessicated thyroid is better. It is, by far. But this point on Liver Cancer would be stronger if we knew for sure that people in this study were on T4 medicaton. I don’t have access to the journal and can’t say for sure.
I have always been on Armour and suggest it for any hypo patient, but when there is a chance to be specific on studies such as these, I prefer clarity if possible.
Janie said:
May 23, 09 at 4:16 pmHi Mary. The article really has nothing to do with being on T4. It has to do with being “hypothyroid”.
And I feel pretty safe saying that being on T4 leaves most with continuing hypothyroidism, and I also feel safe saying that being on desiccated thyroid (and in the presence of strong or well-treated adrenals) results in the removal of hypothyroidism symptoms.
And as a result of the above paragraph, I can make a good “assumption” that the study mentioned only underscores how important it may be to our livers not to stay hypothyroid as being on T4 does, just as it has already shown to be important to our hearts, another major organ.
Hope that helps.
nikki said:
May 25, 09 at 5:18 amI suppose taking the time to put 2 and 2 together and checking out helpful information would be very beneficial for many hypothyroid sufferers.
There is proven information and fact that being left hypothyroid can cause liver issues. Weak livers can become damaged / inflammed and sick. If T4 thyroid meds keeps a patient under preforming optimally in thyroid health — the liver can be comsumed into poor quality and function.
Throw in a shooty conversion table on T4 meds depending soley on using liver function to convert into T3 — and there it is.. a pooped out poisoned liver overloaded to no end.…
Laura Caliguari said:
May 30, 09 at 6:50 pmCan you please tell me the exact title of the journal article in Hepatology? I’m looking at their website (May issue) and cannot find what you’re talking about. Thanks for all of your help, Janie. I really don’t know what I would have done without you and your website for guidance. I am currently treating myself (don’t ask!) with Armour/Isocort and have never felt better. I understand your parting of the ways with Armour, but please keep closely in touch with us on your blog about how you’re doing on your new meds. Love ya.
Laura (from Janie: I’ll look and if I can find it, I’ll post it here. And yes, I’ll let you know how I’m doing on Naturethroid. Update: strangely, when I use the search engine, it won’t work)