Home Thyroid Test

The Barnes Basal Temperature Test is a simple test that anyone can do at home to see if they may have hypothyroidism. All you need is a thermometer. (Make sure it is a thermometer that has mercury in it.) Your body temperature reflects your metabolic rate, which is largely determined by hormones secreted by the thyroid gland.

1. Shake down the thermometer to below 95 degrees the night before you take the test and place it by your bed within easy reach. The idea is to move as little as possible before taking your temperature, while you're calm and almost asleep.

2. After waking up, moving as little as possible and not getting out of bed, place the mercury bulb of the thermometer in the center of your bare armpit and place your arm by your side. Leave the thermometer there for a full 10 minutes.

3. After 10 minutes, record the temperature, time and date.

4. Record the temperature for at least three mornings at the same time each day, if possible. Menstruating women should start recording temperatures on the second day of menstruation.

5. Add up all temperatures and divide by three to get the average temperature.

6. Your basal body temperature should be between 97.6 degrees F and 98.2 degrees F. Anything lower than that can indicate hypothyroidism and anything higher can indicate hyperthyroidism. Read more!

Thyroid Quiz

In their book, Thyroid Power: Ten Steps to Total Health Richard L. Shames, M.D., and Karilee Halo Shames, R.N., Ph.D., have the following quiz:

Do you . . .

have unusual fatigue unrelated to exertion?

feel chillier than most people, often needing to wear socks to bed?

dress in layers because of needing to adjust to various temperatures throughout the day (sometimes too hot, sometimes too cold)?

have feelings of anxiety that sometimes lead to panic?

have trouble with weight, often eating lightly, yet still not losing a pound?

experience aches and pains in your muscles and joints unrelated to trauma or exercise?

have increased problems with digestion or allergies?

feel mentally sluggish, unfocused or unusually forgetful, even though you're not old enough to have Alzheimer's?

know of anyone in your family who has ever had a thyroid problem (even yourself at an earlier age)?

suffer from dry skin or are prone to adult acne or eczema?

go through periods of depression and/or lowered sex drive, seemingly out of proportion to life events?

have diabetes, anemia, rheumatoid arthritis or early graying of hair? Does anyone in your family?

experience your hair as feeling like straw, dry and easily falling out?

experience significant menopausal symptoms, including migraine headaches, without full relief after taking estrogen?

have a history of whiplash or other neck injuries (which may have damaged your thyroid)?

have significant exposure, now or in the past, to chlorine, bromine or fluoride (which compete with iodine in your thyroid)?

feel utterly exhausted by evening, yet have trouble sleeping?

wake up tired?

If you answered yes to four or more of these questions, you could be one of millions of people with an undiagnosed or under-treated low thyroid problem.

Read more!

What is the Thyroid?

In her book, All Your Health Questions Answered Naturally II Maureen Kennedy Salaman explains what the thyroid is. See her article below.

The thyroid gland sits at the base of the neck. If you wore a tie, it would be where the knot lies - two lobes on either side of the trachea. Considered a master gland, because of its importance to the body's metabolism, the thyroid's main functions are to create thyroid hormone that forms protein RNA and oxygenates cells. (1)

The gland regulates growth and metabolism, and it releases hormones that affect numerous bodily functions such as heartbeat, temperature, digestion, calorie burning and hair growth.

Thyroid hormones are made from iodine and the amino acid tyrosine. A thyroid hormone deficiency results from a lack of stimulation by the pituitary gland, the master gland located in the brain that secretes the thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). (2)

Symptoms run the gamut. They include weight gain, depression, fatigue, cold hands and feet, mental disorders, infertility, miscarriage, poor sex drive, heavy or irregular menstruation, high cholesterol, hair loss, dry skin, pale skin, brittle hair, thin and grooved fingernails, muscle weakness, stiff joints, heart problems, constipation, goiters and kidney problems. Since metabolism breaks down with a thyroid problem, having many different ailments can signal a dysfunction. (3)

An article in the British Medical Journal addressed a study in which "six percent of children with Down's syndrome have thyroid disorders, a rate roughly 28 times that of the general population." (4)

Researchers at the Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore, backed this up when they found a significant link between Down's syndrome and autoimmune thyroid disease, usually hypothyroidism. (5)

Even sleep apnea, a situation where breathing stops during sleep, is shown in studies to be caused by hypothyroidism. When the hypothyroidism is treated, not only is sleep apnea alleviated, but overall sleep is improved. Bashir A. Chaudhary, M.D., of the Sleep Disorder Center, Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, suggests it is reasonable to evaluate thyroid function in all sleep apnea patients. (6)


References:
(1) Braverman, Eric, M.D., and Pfeiffer, Carl C., M.D., Ph.D., The Healing Nutrients Within, Keats Publishing, New Canaan, CT, 1987.
(2) Krampf, Leslie, "Natural Help for Hypothyroidism," Vegetarian Times, n. 207, p. 122, November 1994.
(3) Murray, Michael, M.D., and Pizzorno, Joseph, N.D., Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA, p. 388-389, 1991.
(4) Thorpe-Beeston, J.G., et al, "Thyroid Function in Fetuses with Chromosomal Abnormalities," British Medical Journal, v. 302, n. 6777, p. 628, March 16, 1991.
(5) Tambyah P.A. and Cheah J.S., "Hyperthyroidism and Down Syndrome," Annual Academy of Medicine, v. 22, n. 4, p. 603-605, July 1993.
(6) Kittle, William M., M.D., and Chaudhary, Bashir, M.D., "Sleep Apnea and Hypothyroidism," Southern Medical Journal, v. 81, n. 11, p. 1421-1425, November 1988. Read more!