The neuroendocrine system and my blood tests

I've now reached the final section in the first module of my nutrition course: this is concerned with the neuroendocrine system. Some of this material is very important for me, as it mentions the hormones aldosterone and renin that maintain the salt-water balance thus regulating blood pressure. Regular readers will know that I suffer from hyperaldosteronism, which is a difficult word to type and even more difficult to pronounce.

Coincidentally, I have discovered that there are three more sets of results from the blood test that I did a week ago that I hadn't seen previously. The urine test was fine; the hemoglobin A1C % result was 6.0, unchanged from the last time that I had this test done. This is still too high, but if my free glucose level has lowered, then maybe this value too in a few months time will also be lower.

The third set of results were for items that have rarely been tested: Folic acid, Vitamin D, and the thyroid trio of TSH, free T3 and free T4. All are normal except for the free T4 which is too low. What does this mean? Quotes from this site: a low T4 level could mean a diseased thyroid gland or a non-functioning pituitary gland, which is not stimulating the thyroid to produce T4. Since the pituitary gland would normally release TSH if the T4 is low, a high TSH level would confirm that the thyroid gland (not the pituitary gland) is responsible for the hypothyroidism. If the T4 level is low and TSH is not elevated, the pituitary gland is more likely to be the cause for the hypothyroidism. I should say that I don't feel any of the regular effects of hypothyroidism.

I do not want to rush to any conclusions on this topic, so I will not quote the rest of the text. If previously I had wanted to discuss the iron/ferritin results with my doctor, then the TSH/T4 results make this imperative. A fine time to read about the various endocrine glands....

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