Skip to main content

Low-Dose Naltrexone Treatment of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Management of Patients with Pseudo-Endocrine Disorders

Abstract

Chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, also known as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, is the most common cause of spontaneously occurring hypothyroidism in adults in the United States. Treatment for this condition is thyroid hormone replacement once hypothyroidism develops since there is no known effective treatment to halt the underlying thyroiditis that eventually destroys the thyroid gland. Selenium supplements have been reported to reduce anti-thyroid antibody titers significantly but not to prevent the eventual development of hypothyroidism. Low-dose naltrexone (LDN) has been promoted in books and on Internet websites as an effective treatment to reduce thyroid inflammation and symptoms in patients with this condition. However, there is no published scientific data to substantiate these claims.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Chaker L, Bianco AC, Jonklass J, Peeters RP. Hypothyroidism. Lancet. 2017;390(10101):1550–62.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Hu S, Rayman MP. Multiple nutritional factors and the risk of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Thyroid. 2017;27(5):597–610.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Wichman J, Winther KH, Bonnema SJ, Hegedus L. Selenium supplementation significantly reduces thyroid autoantibody levels in patients with chronic autoimmune thyroiditis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Thyroid. 2016;26(12):1681–92.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Garber J, et al. Clinical practice guidelines for hypothyroidism in adults: cosponsored by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the American Thyroid Association. Endocr Pract. 2012;18(6):988–1028. And Thyroid 2012 Dec;22(12):1200–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Jonklaas J, Bianco AC, Bauer AJ, Burman KD, Cappola AR, Celi FS, Cooper DS, American Thyroid Association Task Force on Thyroid Hormone Replacement, et al. Guidelines for the treatment of hypothyroidism: prepared by the American Thyroid Association Task Force on thyroid hormone replacement. Thyroid. 2014;24(12):1670–751.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Thvilum M, Brandt F, Almind D, Christensen K, Brix TH, Hegedüs L. Increased psychiatric morbidity before and after the diagnosis of hypothyroidism: a nationwide register study. Thyroid. 2014;24(5):802–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Quinque EM, Villinger A, Kratzsch J, Karger S. Patient-reported outcomes in adequately treated hypothyroidism – insights from the German versions of ThyQoL, ThySRQ and ThyTSQ. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2013;11:68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Samuels MH, Kolobova I, Smeraglio A, Peters D, Janowsky JS, Schuff KG. The effects of levothyroxine replacement or suppressive therapy on health status, mood, and cognition. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2014;99(3):843–51.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Samuels MH, Kolobova I, Smeraglio A, Niederhausen M, Janowsky JS, Schuff KG. Effect of thyroid function variations within the laboratory reference range on health status, mood, and cognition in levothyroxine-treated subjects. Thyroid. 2016;26(9):1173–84.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Santoro N, Braunstein GD, Butts CL, Martin KA, McDermott M, Pinkerton JV. Compounded bioidentical hormones in endocrinology practice: an Endocrine Society scientific statement. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2016;101(4):1318–43.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Biondi B, Wartofsky L. Treatment with thyroid hormone. Endocr Rev. 2014;35(3):433–512.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Winther KH, Cramon P, Watt T, Bjorner JB, Ekholm O, Feldt-Rasmussen U, Groenvold M, et al. Disease-specific as well as generic quality of life is widely impacted in autoimmune hypothyroidism and improves during the first six months of levothyroxine therapy. PLoS One. 2016;11(6):e0156925.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Peterson SJ, Cappola AR, Castro MR, et al. Degrees of satisfaction and coexistent diseases in those responding to a survey exploring perceptions about treatment of hypothyroidism. Thyroid. 2018;28(6):707–21.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. McAninch EA, Bianco AC. The history and future treatment of hypothyroidism. Ann Intern Med. 2016;164(1):50–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Guglielmi R, Frasoldati A, Zini M, Grimaldi F, Gharib H, Garber JR, Papini E. Italian Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Statement-Replacement Therapy for Primary Hypothyroidism: a brief guide for clinical practice. Endocr Pract. 2016;22(11):1319–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Ott J, Promberger R, Kober F, Neuhold N, Tea M, Huber JC, Hermann M. Hashimoto’ s thyroiditis affects symptom load and quality of life unrelated to hypothyroidism: a prospective case-control study in women undergoing thyroidectomy for benign goiter. Thyroid. 2011;21(2):161–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Boelaert K, Newby PR, Simmonds MJ, Holder RL, Carr-Smith JD, Heward JM, Manji N, et al. Prevalence and relative risk of other autoimmune diseases in subjects with autoimmune thyroid disease. Am J Med. 2010;123(2):183.e1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Roy A, Laszkowska M, Sundstrom J, Lebwohl B, Green PH, Kämpe O, Ludvigsson JF. Prevalence of celiac disease in patients with autoimmune thyroid disease: a meta-analysis. Thyroid. 2016;26(7):880–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org.

  20. Schopick, Julia E and Berkson Burton M. Honest Medicine. 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Smith J. Low dose naltrexone therapy improves active Crohn’s disease. Am J Gastroenterol. 2007;102:820–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Parker CE. Low dose naltrexone for induction of remission in Crohn’s disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018;4:CD010410. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD010410.pub3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael T. McDermott .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

McDermott, M.T. (2019). Low-Dose Naltrexone Treatment of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. In: McDermott, M. (eds) Management of Patients with Pseudo-Endocrine Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22720-3_24

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22720-3_24

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-22719-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-22720-3

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics