Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Graves’ disease are often treated as opposing conditions—one causing an underactive thyroid, the other overactive.
This framework has led to treatment strategies that focus primarily on managing thyroid hormone levels rather than addressing the deeper immune dysfunction driving these conditions.
Newer research challenges this conventional approach, revealing that Hashimoto’s and Graves’ share many of the same root causes—from genetic susceptibility and environmental triggers to metabolic imbalances and immune dysregulation.
That’s why you may have noticed that lab results that don’t always match the textbook definitions – people with Hashimoto’s can present with hyperthyroid symptoms, or people with Graves’ show unexpected metabolic patterns, usually linked to hypothyroid.
Treating based on symptoms or lab work instead of underlying pathology means treatments can be hit or miss.
This type of contradicting symptoms or lab work highlights that no two people are the same. Our body doesn’t read the text book. Qualified naturopaths are trained in assessing the individual (as opposed to the diagnosis) and foraging for the underlying cause. This involves a more precise, root-cause approach, one that looks beyond thyroid hormone levels to include the immune, metabolic, and genetic factors influencing each person’s response to treatment.
In health there is no “one size fits all” and definitely no “one diagnosis = one treatment”.