Show Notes
Normal TSH, still exhausted? Dr. Chris Motley explains the thyroid antibodies most people never get tested for, why a stomach infection called H. pylori keeps showing up alongside Hashimoto's, what a 2026 study found when it was treated, and what Chinese medicine has long said about digestion and a cold, tired body.
(00:00) Your antibodies are five times normal, and "nothing to treat yet"
(00:53) Welcome to the Ancient Health Podcast
(01:02) The most common thyroid disease, and the least recognized
(02:15) How your immune system attacks your thyroid: anti-TPO and anti-thyroglobulin
(02:55) What your thyroid does, and how TPO builds T3 and T4
(05:38) Why the antibodies start: Epstein-Barr, and one more pathogen
(06:13) H. pylori is not just a heartburn bug
(07:17) The stomach infection you forgot you had
(08:41) How people actually catch H. pylori
(10:16) A hidden infection and an over-alert immune system
(11:30) Mistaken identity: the molecular mimicry idea
(14:16) The Egypt study: treat H. pylori, watch TSH fall
(15:45) Why H. pylori belongs in every Hashimoto's workup
(16:47) A patient story: lifelong anxiety and a folder of labs
(23:16) Chinese medicine: Spleen and Kidney Yang deficiency
(24:56) The herbs Dr. Motley uses, and what the research shows
(27:40) That old infection could still be hanging around
(28:01) Normal labs, still feel crummy? What to ask for
(29:26) Share this with someone who needs it
(30:02) Disclaimer
TSH alone can miss Hashimoto's. Over 90 percent of people with Hashimoto's carry TPO antibodies, and 50 to 80 percent carry thyroglobulin antibodies (StatPearls). Most standard panels check TSH only. Ask for both antibodies.
The H. pylori and Hashimoto's link is real in pooled data, not in every study. A 15-study meta-analysis found about twice the odds of Hashimoto's with H. pylori infection (OR 2.16). One Italian study found the link only in Graves' disease. Molecular mimicry is a proposed explanation, not a proven one. 5. Treating H. pylori lowered TSH in levothyroxine-resistant women. TSH fell from 11.87 to 2.56 over four months in a 2026 Egyptian study. Antibodies moved much less. Levothyroxine needs stomach acid to absorb, so better absorption is the likeliest reason.
What Doctor Motley Likes to Use:
Golden Thread: https://tinyurl.com/mvf6rftr
Scutellaria Supreme (Chinese Scullcap): https://tinyurl.com/4murtnuk
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