Does Levothyroxine Really Cause Cancer? What Dr. Ardis Got Wrong with Evan H. Hirsch, MD

Does Levothyroxine Really Cause Cancer? What Dr. Ardis Got Wrong with Evan H. Hirsch, MD

00:00

Does thyroid medication cause cancer? You may have seen Dr. Ardis's episode about levothyroxine causing cancer, brain cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer. It's scary stuff. And if you're one of the millions of women taking thyroid medication, you are probably wondering, should I stop? The short answer is no.

00:28

And we're going to talk about why in today's episode. So welcome back to the EnergyMD Podcast, where we help you resolve your Long COVID and chronic fatigue syndrome naturally so that you can get back to living your best life. I'm Evan H. Hirsch, MD. So Dr. Ardis is not wrong about the study. There is a 2021 study from Taiwan that looked at over 600,000 people and found that long-term levothyroxine users had a higher risk of several cancers. But the question is not whether the study exists.

00:57

The question is what it actually means. And that's where things get interesting. The study was a retrospective observational study. That means researchers looked back at medical records and asked, do people who take levothyroxine have more cancer? And the answer was yes, they did. About 50% increased risk across several cancer types. But here's the problem with observational studies. They can show a link, but they cannot prove that the medication caused the link.

01:27

There is a big difference between correlation and causation. Think of it this way. If you did a study of people who carry umbrellas, you would find they have a much higher risk of getting wet, but the umbrella did not cause them to get wet. The rain did. The umbrella is a marker, not a cause. So what is the rain in this case? The rain is autoimmune thyroid disease or Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

01:54

The majority of people taking levothyroxine are not taking it because their thyroid randomly stopped working. They're taking it because they have Hashimoto's, an autoimmune condition where the immune system attacks the thyroid. And here's the key. Autoimmune disease is a known risk factor for cancer. A 2022 meta-analysis found that women with Hashimoto's have about a 53% increased risk of breast cancer. That's almost exactly the same number the levothyroxine study found.

02:24

So the question is, is the cancer risk coming from the medication or from the autoimmune disease that caused the person to need the medication in the first place? Here's the most important thing about the study. Did it compare levothyroxine users to healthy people in the general population?

02:41

Or to people with similar thyroid disease? It compared them to non-users, not to a carefully matched group of people with autoimmune thyroid disease who were not on medication. That makes the headline conclusion much weaker than it sounds. The study did not control for this. It could not. Because almost everyone in the study who was taking levothyroxine had an autoimmune thyroid condition. About 90 to 95% of everybody who has low thyroid and is taking thyroid medication

03:09

has an autoimmune thyroid condition. The medication and the disease are inseparable in the data. And we need to be honest about something else too. There is not strong long-term evidence showing that desiccated thyroid or NP Thyroid is safer when it comes to cancer risk. So this is not a case of synthetic bad, natural good. I always like to go natural, but that's not the case in this particular situation. The issue is not the type of thyroid medication. The issue is the underlying autoimmune condition.

03:37

This is where my framework comes in. In my experience, and according to the research, autoimmune thyroid disease does not come out of nowhere. It is driven by the Toxic 5: heavy metals, chemicals, mold, infections, always including the spike protein, and what my friend Dr. Patrick Porter, founder of BrainTap, calls neurological lock. When your nervous system gets stuck in survival mode and cannot access the restorative states it needs to heal.

04:07

When your body is dealing with these underlying stressors, your immune system stays on high alert. It gets confused. It starts attacking your own tissues. In the case of Hashimoto's, it attacks your thyroid. So the real question is not, does levothyroxine cause cancer? The real question is, what is driving the autoimmune condition that is driving both the need for thyroid medication and the increased cancer risk?

04:34

And that's where the solution lies. When you address the Toxic 5, you give your immune system a chance to calm down. Your thyroid function can improve. Your cancer risk can decrease. And you may even need less thyroid medication over time. That's what we see in our population. If you're taking levothyroxine, do not stop. Thyroid medication is not the enemy. It is supporting a thyroid that is struggling because of underlying root causes. Stopping it will make you feel worse, and it will not address the real problem.

05:03

What I recommend instead is to look at the bigger picture. If you have Hashimoto's or any autoimmune condition, look at what is driving it. Mold, heavy metals, chronic infections, neurological lock. These are the things that I address with my clients who have Long COVID, chronic fatigue syndrome, thyroid issues, adrenal issues, sex hormone issues, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and more, all part of these syndromes. And they are things that can shift your health trajectory, not stopping your thyroid medication.

05:31

In fact, optimizing your thyroid is an incredibly important part of supporting you during the process of resolving your Long COVID and chronic fatigue syndrome. If this is making sense to you and you want to learn more about how I address the Toxic 5, head over to fixyourfatigue.com and watch my latest masterclass. Dr. Ardis is right to ask questions about the medications we take. That is absolutely important, but correlation is not causation.

05:57

And when you look at the full picture, the real driver of cancer risk in thyroid patients is not the medication. It is the underlying autoimmune condition. And that condition is driven by the root causes that we've discussed today, and they can be addressed. Go to fixyourfatigue.com and watch my free masterclass. I lay out my full approach there and it could help you see what has been missing in your own recovery journey. I'll see you over there.

06:23

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Sharing all the experts I know and love and the powerful tips I have is one of my absolute favorite things to do. Thanks for being part of my community. Just a reminder, this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. It is provided with the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services. Thanks for listening and have an amazing day.