The thyroid gland produces a variety of hormones in your body.
It is crucial for establishing and maintaining almost all of the body’s metabolic processes.
The thyroid gland can suffer from numerous disorders, the two most common of which are hypo- and hyperthyroidism.
Hypothyroidism is insufficient hormone production, whereas too much thyroid hormones cause hyperthyroidism.
The symptoms accompanying hyperthyroidism are always caused by the overproduction of thyroid hormones.
However, this malfunction can be caused by different conditions.
These are:
By contrast, the symptoms of hypothyroidism are always caused by a lack of thyroid hormones in your body.
This condition can be caused by:
Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism require an opposite approach to treatment.
Hyperthyroidism treatment aims to slow down or stop the production of hormones.
By contrast, hypothyroidism treatment aims to promote hormone production.
In the case of hyperthyroidism, doctors usually resort to antithyroid medication, radioactive iodine treatment, or surgery.
If a person suffers from hypothyroidism, the only way to make up for the lack of hormones is to take hormone replacement therapy.
Patients usually need to do this therapy for the rest of their lives.
However, PEMF therapy is also showing a lot of promise in treating thyroid problems successfully.
Let’s learn more about the mechanisms below.
Thousands of different studies discuss the link between PEMF stimulation and improved thyroid function.
PEMF therapy can restore thyroid function, regardless of whether your master gland is over- or under-active.
PEMF provides its benefits via electromagnetic stimulation that works at the perfect frequencies to affect all of the cells in your body.
More precisely, PEMF targets the mitochondria, which are the part of the cell that produces energy known as ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
Thyroid gland cells require ample amounts of ATP to function properly.
If the cells lack energy, the gland may malfunction.
PEMF therapy also reduces inflammation and swelling, and we already know that thyroid problems can be caused by inflammatory processes.
Swelling also increases the chance of nodules appearing, which can further decrease the proper function of the thyroid gland.
Therefore, by treating the swelling, we can also reduce the size and number of nodules.
Ultimately, the goal of PEMF therapy for thyroid problems is to reduce the need for hormone replacement, which it does successfully most of the time.
Therefore, it is advisable to use PEMF only after consulting with your doctor, and test your hormone levels regularly.
Taking hormone replacement therapy or hormone suppressants when unnecessary may cause you other problems.
Let us then take a look at some scientific studies that address in more detail the effects of PEMF on thyroid problems.
Before we move on to the research, it’s important to note that some studies listed here use rTMS devices.
These devices and their effects are very similar to those of PEMF, so all the health benefits relevant to thyroid problems can be achieved with both of them.
That is why we also include these studies.
Tinnitus is a symptom that is commonly caused by hyperthyroidism.
It is usually pulsative in nature, and experienced by the majority of patients.
There is significant scientific evidence that rTMS/PEMF can greatly reduce its loudness.
In a study named Reduction of cortical excitability and increase of thalamic activity in a low-frequency rTMS treatment for chronic tinnitus (1), scientists performed rTMS/PEMF stimulation on patients suffering from chronic tinnitus, and then assessed the changes in cerebral blood flow and cortical excitability.
The assessment was done using CT scans and paired-pulse TMS.
After the patients completed rTMS/PEMF therapy, scientists noticed that the tinnitus loudness was decreased, thalamic blood flow was increased, and there was a reduction in cortical excitability.
Therefore, they concluded that low-frequency rTMS/PEMF stimulation affects positively tinnitus loudness, which is a common symptom associated with hyperthyroidism.
Therefore, it is recommended to include it in a broader hyperthyroidism treatment.
This research is particularly interesting because the conclusions were based on the effects of rTMS/PEMF treatment on depression, for which it is also beneficial.
A 60-year-old woman was the subject of the study named Significant Increase in Plasma Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone During Low-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (2).
She was hospitalized after two years of treatment-resistant depression, and had normal levels of TSH and thyroid hormone.
However, following rTMS/PEMF stimulation to combat her depression, scientists also noticed that her serum TSH levels increased significantly.
These levels remained abnormally high for the duration of the rTMS/PEMF stimulation, and only dropped back down to normal after the rTMS/PEMF treatment stopped.
Even though very little is currently known about the effects of rTMS/PEMF on the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis, we can see that it has a clear impact on TSH levels.
In this study, low-frequency rTMS/PEMF stimulation of 1 Hz was used to generate these benefits.
Since this patient had also undergone thyroidectomy, the increase in TSH did not result in the rise of plasma T4 levels.
In patients with a functioning thyroid gland, the opposite would probably have been the case.
Therefore, this evidence suggests that rTMS/PEMF treatment could successfully be used in the treatment of hypothyroidism.
In a study completed in Tokyo, named Changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis following successful treatment with low-frequency right prefrontal transcranial magnetic stimulation in treatment-resistant depression (3), scientists noticed a correlation between rTMS/PEMF therapy and thyroid gland activity.
Even though scientists don’t yet fully understand the mechanisms behind these effects, they are observable.
Twenty patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression participated in the study, receiving five 60-second 1 Hz trains of therapy aimed at their prefrontal cortex.
Over three weeks, 12 sessions in total were administered.
After the study, the participants were split into two groups – as either (a) more than, or (b) equal to, a 50% decrease on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS).
Serum levels of free triiodothyronine (fT3), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and free thyroxine (fT4) were measured, both before and after the therapy.
Of the three, only TSH levels were observed to change, rising significantly after the rTMS/PEMF stimulation.
The other two remained unaltered.
Thus, once again, we can conclude that rTMS/PEMF therapy can be used successfully to alleviate symptoms associated with hypothyroidism, and help with treating this thyroid-related problem.
A group of scientists from the University of Pennsylvania sought to determine whether rTMS/PEMF treatment affected TSH and acute mood elevations in individuals suffering from major drug-resistant depression.
The outcome was a study named Acute mood and thyroid stimulating hormone effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation in major depression (4).
Fourteen non-medicated depression patients participated in this double-blind study.
The patients were split into two groups.
One group received real, and the other received sham, rTMS/PEMF stimulation.
rTMS/PEMF was applied to the left prefrontal cortex at 10 Hz, 100% of motor threshold, and 20 trains, over the course of 10 minutes.
Immediately before and after the treatments, blood was drawn for TSH analysis, and the subjects’ mood was assessed using both the six-item Hamilton Depression Scale, and the Profile of Mood States (POMS).
The results demonstrated that the group that received active stimulation showed a larger improvement on both the Hamilton and POMS scales.
More importantly, the active group also experienced a substantial improvement in their TSH levels after stimulation.
It is thus evident from this study that low-frequency rTMS/PEMF stimulation to the prefrontal cortex can both improve mood and raise TSH levels in patients suffering from depression.
The three previous studies examined increasing TSH levels in medication-resistant depressive patients.
However, a study called Suprathreshold repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation elevates thyroid-stimulating hormone in healthy male subjects (5) focused on healthy males, and the way rTMS/PEMF stimulation affected them.
Nineteen healthy males participated in this study.
They were split into three groups, of which two received real rTMS/PEMF stimulation, and the third received placebo.
The first active group received suprathreshold (120% of motor threshold) to their left prefrontal cortex.
The second active group received subthreshold (80% of motor threshold), and the last group received sham stimulation.
After the end of the study, the TSH levels in the suprathreshold group were compared to those of the other two groups.
The TSH plasma levels were substantially higher in the first group than in the other two.
The levels were measured both 10, and then 60, minutes after each session.
Scientists concluded from these results that rTMS/PEMF stimulation affected TSH levels positively, which could greatly benefit patients suffering from depression or hypothyroidism.
Scientists at the Medical University of South Carolina were also interested in the way rTMS/PEMF stimulation affected healthy volunteers.
To answer this question, they conducted a study named Changes in mood and hormone levels after rapid-rate transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the prefrontal cortex (6), which included ten healthy volunteers.
The subjects received rTMS/PEMF stimulation either to their left or their right prefrontal cortex, or to their occipital or midfrontal cortex, or cerebellum.
After the sessions, they self-rated their mood, and their hormone levels and reaction time were serially measured by technicians.
The results showed a significant difference in the effects of left and right prefrontal stimulation.
Left prefrontal stimulation caused a decrease in happiness, whereas right prefrontal stimulation caused a decrease in sadness.
When rTMS/PEMF was administered to all prefrontal regions, an increase in serum TSH levels was observed.
It’s evident from the studies we’ve discussed thus far that PEMF therapy has a significant positive effect on several thyroid problems, including the two most common: Hypo-, and hyperthyroidism.
However, since PEMF therapy works at the cellular level, it has numerous other health benefits for your body.
Some of the most well-known scientifically-proven ones are:
In conclusion, PEMF therapy is a powerful tool that should be considered by both patients who have thyroid problems, and their doctors.
PEMF is noninvasive, and has basically no known side-effects.
Therefore, you can freely use it over long periods for both treatment and prevention of diseases.
If you are planning to use PEMF therapy either for hypo- or hyperthyroidism, make sure you consult with your doctor, and keep track of your hormone levels.
PEMF can be used on its own, or as an addition to existing therapy.
Either way, its positive effects are powerful and indisputable.
Richard Hoover is a PEMF expert and content contributor to PEMF Advisor. With a bachelor’s degree in physics and multiple certifications in natural health programs, he is one of the best PEMF experts around.
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