Denise Richards thanked Instagram fans for noticing that she had an enlarged thyroid during a recent “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” reunion. The attention led to her thyroid disease diagnosis.
The actress also shared that going gluten-free has helped with her thyroid disease. “It’s amazing to me in a short time eliminating gluten from my diet how much my thyroid has changed,” she wrote. Adding: “I had no idea how much our diet really can affect our body and for me how toxic gluten really is ... I thank all of you who sent me messages.”
For hypothyroidism, that can cause symptoms such as “unexpected weight gain, fatigue, dry skin, cold intolerance, constipation and depression, and menstrual changes,” Shirisha Avadhanula, MD, an endocrinologist at Cleveland Clinic, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. Hyperthyroidism, on the other hand, can cause “unintentional weight loss, inability to sleep at night, tremors, heat intolerance, diarrhea, palpitations, and irregular periods.” Both diseases are typically treated with medications.
“There is a well known association between autoimmune thyroid dysfunction and celiac disease,” notes Avadhanula. “The most common causes of both hypo and hyperthyroidism are autoimmune conditions, called Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Grave's disease. In fact, autoimmune thyroid diseases are among the most prevalent auto-immune co-existing conditions in patients who suffer from celiac disease. The etiology behind this phenomenon is not well understood.