Treatment of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis with herbal medication

Abstract

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is an autoimmune thyroid disorder, an organ-specific disease, which is characterized by diffused goiter with lymphocytic infiltration, which leads to destruction of thyroid gland causing hypothyroidism. This is a condition where the thyroid gland does not release enough of thyroid hormone called thyroxin due to the insufficient amount of iodine. Some common sign and symptoms of Hashimoto’s disease and hypothyroidism are weight gain, depression, and constipation, irregular and heavy menstrual period. However, herbal treatment is effective and enhances thyroid function. There are some natural-occurring herbs such as gum guggul (Commiphora mukul), Blue flag root (Iris versicolor), bladder wrack (Fucus vesiculosus), and seaweeds which are commonly used to treat this disorder. These herbs have different mechanism of action in HT and hypothyroidism disorder. Bladder wrack upregulate the production of iodine processing hormone, whereas gum guggul increases the conversion of tetraiodothyronine into triiodothyronine, and blue flag root is a detoxifying agent. This review article summarizes the herbal treatments which are commonly used and also their mechanism of action.