[Anonymous June 24, 1998 at 7:58 pm Post count: 93172]

#1149385

Thanks for a great post on CT. Yes, it is one of the five hormones made by the thyroid gland.
It is broken down by the stomach acids during digestion and cannot be given in pill form. It is
used as at treatment for osteoporosis. Just a few years ago, ny endo told me it was a
vestigial chemical, never needed by the body.
Well, medical science marches on. Be sure that they will discover a new
reason we needed it all along when a new delivery mechanism needs
to be sold.
In the meantime, current endocrinolgy texts are saying we don’t need it.
And high dosage thyroid patients continue to have osteporosis problems.
Whether its because they have no hormone production at all or whether
they are taking high dosage of replacement meds is debatable.
My guess is, if it was there when we were born, we probably willneed it at some time.
I heard that A—-r thyroid recently changed its formula to leave
the calcitonin in, but I have not verified this with the manufacturer.

[Anonymous June 24, 1998 at 11:20 pm Post count: 93172]

#1050487

Dear Sue,

I’ve been worrying about this, too. I have been doing some searching on PubMed and have found some interesting information. I am not medically trained and have found the endocrinology, biochemistry, immunology, etc. hard going. I am still trying to go through what I have found and can give you more info later if you are still interested.

Calcitonin is indeed made in the thyroid gland. It works with the parathyroid glands and vitamin D to provide calcium homeostasis in our bodies. Our bones store calcium; simply put, calcitonin orders the calcium in our blood into the bones and parathyroid hormone pulls it out for use throughout the body. Calcitonin also counters acid in our stomachs and how fast our stomachs and small intestines empty. It can work to reduce pain, especially bone pain. It increases blood sugar levels and reduces insulin levels. Calcitonin works with serotonin to regulate thyroid hormones in our thyroid. It does other things, too. There are receptors for calcitonin all over our bodies.

The C cells in our thyroids that make calcitonin are very sensitive to radiation and are apparently destroyed by RAI. With all the things calcitonin does, I wondered why I wasn’t dead without it. However, apparently our bodies have backup systems. Calcitonin (CT) is “expressed” by the calcitonin gene. Other things come from this gene, too: a number of calcitonin gene-related peptides (CGRP) and some other forms of CT with different molecular weights are made in the thyroid and in other parts of our bodies, including the pituitary gland and the brain. CGRP latches onto CT receptors in our bodies, where it does some of the same things as CT, more or less effectively. The same may be true of the other CTs–I couldn’t find anything that states explicitly that these work outside of the organs where they are made. So, probably we don’t have to worry, but I wonder if the balance is right.

More later, if you want it. Please realize that I may have misunderstood some of this!

Elisa (phillips@pop.tiac.net)

[Author]

Posts