Ashwagandha May Cause Thyrotoxicosis, Study Suggests

By Kyle J. Norton

Thyroid disease is a condition or malfunction of the thyroid. Hyperthyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland is overactive and produces too much thyroid hormones. Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland is underactive and produces very little thyroid hormones.

The thyroid gland is an endocrine gland located in the neck, consisting of two lobes connected by an isthmus with functions to secrete thyroid hormones (thyroxine/T4 and triiodothyronine/T3), and calcitonin.

Thyroid hormones play an important role in metabolism by stimulating almost every tissue in the body to produce proteins and increasing the amount of oxygen to the cells. 

Abnormal thyroid hormone production can be diagnosed by examining whether the thyroid gland is enlarged or by taking a blood test or/and a radioactive iodine uptake test.

Thyrotoxicosis is a medical condition caused by an excess of thyroid hormone in the body.

More precisely, in thyrotoxicosis, patients experience a low level of thyroid stimulating hormone, TSH in the bloodstream.

The most common treatment of thyrotoxicosis is the use of radioactive iodine and antithyroid medication, following by careful follow-up.

Ashwagandha also is known as Withania somnifera is a nightshade plant in the genus of Withania, belonging to the family Solanaceae, native to the dry parts of India, North Africa, Middle East, and the Mediterranean.

The herbal medicine has been considered as Indian ginseng and used in Ayurvedic medicine over 3000 years to treat tumors and tubercular glands, carbuncles, memory loss, and ulcers and considered as anti-stress, cognition-facilitating, anti-inflammatory, and anti-aging herbal medicine.

The Sectie Geneesmiddelenbewaking in Postbus in examining the case of a 32-year-old healthy woman developed thyrotoxicosis induced symptoms chronic fatigue while taking capsules that contained ashwagandha herbal extract suggested

* Taking ashwagandha herbal extract in reduced doses or occasionally do not cause thyrotoxicosis

* However, overdoses of ashwagandha herbal extract can induce clinical symptoms indicative of thyrotoxicosis.

* Discontinued ashwagandha herbal extract can resolve the symptoms spontaneously, according to the laboratory values.

The incidence also has been proved in the animal studies as ashwagandha can increase serum concentrations of thyroid hormones.

Based on the findings, researchers said, "thyrotoxicosis is a potentially serious side effect of ashwagandha".

Taken altogether, Ashwagandha overdose may induce thyrotoxicosis, pending to the result of larger sample size and multicenter study

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) [Thyrotoxicosis following the use of ashwagandha].[Article in Dutch] by van der Hooft CS1, Hoekstra A, Winter A, de Smet PA, Stricker BH. (PubMed)