Introduction
Hyperthyroidism is a relatively new disease that was first discovered around 1979 and since then has become the most common feline endocrine system disorder as well as a commonly diagnosed disease. Hyperthyroidism is a condition resulting from excess concentrations of active thyroid hormones circulating in the bloodstream. The two thyroid homes that are being overproduced are thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) which are used to help control the overall metabolism of the body. When a cat has an overactive thyroid gland the hormones will be released regardless of the anterior pituitary’s release of TSH or thyroid stimulating hormone which is due to an error in the negative feedback system. These thyroid hormones are formed …show more content…
One such study is by restricting iodine in their overall diets to reduce the amount of iodine that could be used to create the thyroid hormones that were running rampant in the cat’s body. In a study done in in the years 2011 to 2013 a group of cats with hyperthyroidism were fed a commercially available low iodine diet for the sole purpose of treating the effects of the disease. Both a canned and dry variety of the commercial available iodine restricted diet were used in said study. This study showed that the diet could be used to control hormone levels in the cat’s and some showed significant improvement with the TT4 levels being in the normal range but there were not significant improvements in the group as a whole as far as weight gain and other symptoms. One possible reasoning for the lack of real improvements could be the fact that the thyroid hormones can be stored for up to 2-3 months so even though the levels are being significantly decreased there would be no real changes until much later in the dietary management of the …show more content…
There has always been much debate on whether or not the food we feed them has anything to do with the conditions they develop. As a relatively new disease there is still much that researchers do not know about hyperthyroidism in cats in terms of how exactly they develop it but studies are being done to determine if it can be managed simply by controlling what they eat on a daily basis. This would lead to much less expensive or invasive treatments if the diet change could be proved to be useful on a long term basis without any lasting harmful side effects. With disease that is studied this way it paves a pathway for other diseases/ conditions to be treated in similar manners that can be traced down to either a hormone produced or a chemical missing. These studies that were talked about were simply for feeding iodine restricted diets to cats to see if it would reduce their levels of TT4 or thyroxine by limiting the ingredients needed to make it. If there are no lasting effects then it could become a very feasible way to manage such a long term disease and could even lead to treatments of other conditions that are similarly acquired. More research is needed of course before this can be truly declared a definite treatment though many of these feed are actually on the market today though only really for short term uses and constant checks from a trusted
Hyperthyroidism is a relatively new disease that was first discovered around 1979 and since then has become the most common feline endocrine system disorder as well as a commonly diagnosed disease. Hyperthyroidism is a condition resulting from excess concentrations of active thyroid hormones circulating in the bloodstream. The two thyroid homes that are being overproduced are thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) which are used to help control the overall metabolism of the body. When a cat has an overactive thyroid gland the hormones will be released regardless of the anterior pituitary’s release of TSH or thyroid stimulating hormone which is due to an error in the negative feedback system. These thyroid hormones are formed …show more content…
One such study is by restricting iodine in their overall diets to reduce the amount of iodine that could be used to create the thyroid hormones that were running rampant in the cat’s body. In a study done in in the years 2011 to 2013 a group of cats with hyperthyroidism were fed a commercially available low iodine diet for the sole purpose of treating the effects of the disease. Both a canned and dry variety of the commercial available iodine restricted diet were used in said study. This study showed that the diet could be used to control hormone levels in the cat’s and some showed significant improvement with the TT4 levels being in the normal range but there were not significant improvements in the group as a whole as far as weight gain and other symptoms. One possible reasoning for the lack of real improvements could be the fact that the thyroid hormones can be stored for up to 2-3 months so even though the levels are being significantly decreased there would be no real changes until much later in the dietary management of the …show more content…
There has always been much debate on whether or not the food we feed them has anything to do with the conditions they develop. As a relatively new disease there is still much that researchers do not know about hyperthyroidism in cats in terms of how exactly they develop it but studies are being done to determine if it can be managed simply by controlling what they eat on a daily basis. This would lead to much less expensive or invasive treatments if the diet change could be proved to be useful on a long term basis without any lasting harmful side effects. With disease that is studied this way it paves a pathway for other diseases/ conditions to be treated in similar manners that can be traced down to either a hormone produced or a chemical missing. These studies that were talked about were simply for feeding iodine restricted diets to cats to see if it would reduce their levels of TT4 or thyroxine by limiting the ingredients needed to make it. If there are no lasting effects then it could become a very feasible way to manage such a long term disease and could even lead to treatments of other conditions that are similarly acquired. More research is needed of course before this can be truly declared a definite treatment though many of these feed are actually on the market today though only really for short term uses and constant checks from a trusted