Chris Kresser: I’m going to answer this briefly, but I just want to remind everyone that we’re going to be covering blood chemistry in detail for the last four or five months of the course, so if possible, you can hold your questions on blood chemistry until then. We’re going to cover all this stuff extensively.
“The patient’s thyroid panel has been checked once in August of 2015 and once recently. Both times, the thyroglobulin level was elevated and TPO antibodies were normal. Functionally low total T3. Only thyroid-related symptoms of dry skin and acne along the jawline. Only 100 percent off gluten for one month now.”
Yeah, TG, thyroglobulin, antibodies are an indicator of either Hashimoto’s or Graves’ disease. In some patients with Hashimoto’s you’ll see elevated TPO only and normal thyroglobulin, in some patients you’ll see both TPO and thyroglobulin antibodies elevated, and in other patients you’ll see only thyroglobulin antibodies elevated.
Now, if the patient had hyperthyroid symptoms, you’d also want to check for TSI antibodies because often in hyperthyroidism or Graves’ you’ll see elevated TSI and thyroglobulin antibodies without necessarily seeing any change in TPO.