The thyroid system is well known to be important in the regulation of the body's metabolic rate. It can decrease or increase the metabolic rate under certain circumstances. Why is this important? We can think of the metabolism as having two speeds or modes, one that uses less energy and one that uses more. I'll call the slower mode the conservation mode and the fast mode I'll call the productivity mode.

There are two things that your body is designed to do:
1. Not Starve
2. Get things done

It is easier to survive famine if your body is not using as much energy (conservation mode). On the other hand, the more energy you spend (productivity mode) the easier it is to get things done. If you didn't have a conservation mode, then when food was scarce you'd be more likely to starve. And if you didn't have a productivity mode, then when resources were plentiful you'd have a hard time getting as much done. People who are in the conservation mode frequently tell me: "I don't have any interest in anything anymore, and I just don't feel like doing anything." What a way to conserve energy!

It is normal for the thyroid system to enter into and out of the conservation and productivity modes at the appropriate times and under the appropriate conditions. This helps the body to cope with the changes and challenges of life. The body enters into the conservation mode under conditions that threaten the survival and/or physical, mental, emotional resources of the body, such as childbirth, divorce, death of a loved one, job or family stress, surgery or accidents, etc., and starvation (not very common in the United States except for severe dieting). It seems that stress is not always measured by the challenge itself, but by the relationship of the presenting challenge to the available resources. When the brain determines that there is a threat, or that there may be insufficient resources available to easily meet a presenting challenge, a signal is sent to the body to begin entering into the conservation mode to conserve energy. When the stressful conditions have passed, the body is supposed to return to the productivity mode; but in Wilson's Temperature Syndrome it doesn't, leaving people to suffer with frustrating and often debilitating complaints long after the stress has passed. So essentially, Wilson's Temperature Syndrome is a natural and normal starvation/stress coping mechanism gone amuck.
 

Under stress, the body slows down by decreasing the amount of raw material T4 that is converted to the active thyroid hormone T3, while increasing the amount that is converted to the inactive RT3. It has been shown that during fasting, the T3 level in the bloodstream can drop by 50% with the RT3 going up by 50%. Since T3 is an extremely active thyroid hormone and since RT3 has no thyroid hormone activity, it is obvious that this shunting process can greatly affect the amount of physiologically active thyroid hormone at the level of the active site. Studies have shown that the metabolic rate drops during these same conditions of fasting.

Incidentally, it has been shown that some of the highest levels of RT3 found in man are in newborn babies. Cord samples of blood taken from the umbilical cord at the time of birth often show elevated levels of RT3 and low levels of T3 (which begin to increase soon after birth). This may be a survival mechanism to help the baby to conserve as much energy as possible and get a foothold in this world. I have often wondered if this is why babies spend so much time sleeping. Basically, all they do is eat, sleep, and gain weight and can often be on the irritable side. A little hunger seems to be so much more painful for them, and their hunger-pang screams seem so much more urgent and desperate, as if they're faced with a life-threatening situation. But after they are fed they are extremely content and satisfied. As we will discuss next, it seems that the conservation mode is triggered when the body perceives a threat that there may be insufficient resources to meet apparent challenges. The lower the resources, the more desperate the situation. Probably few of us can think of an animal or organism with fewer resources or that is any more vulnerable than a human baby.

When the body is faced with stress or starvation, and T4 to T3 conversion decreases, the cells of the body slow down, so the body temperature drops. When the temperature drops, many of the body's enzymes do not function as well.
 

As the body conserves energy, it cuts down on some of the more expendable functions that are not absolutely necessary for survival. This can lead to a long list of unfavorable symptoms listed in Chapter 9 (fatigue, depression, PMS, migraines, fluid retention, etc.).

This is accomplished by the fact that some enzymes are more susceptible to a decrease in body temperature than others. It is fascinating that the most susceptible enzymes happen to be related to some of the body's more expendable functions. For example, the largest organ in the human body is the skin, and a huge amount of energy is expended in maintaining the skin. The skin is quite durable and can continue to function for many weeks even when maintenance levels drop significantly. So a person's body can get away with significantly decreasing the energy expended on maintaining the skin for a period of time, thereby conserving a huge amount of energy. In this way, the body's conservation of energy can result in dry skin, dry hair, hair loss, dry, brittle nails, etc. It's not surprising that luxury functions, such as the sex drive, are among the first to go. The more important functions (for personal short-term survival) like vision, hearing, heart function, and breathing are not as greatly affected by changes in temperature. Thus, the body has a very effective way of conserving energy under periods of stress by decreasing energy expenditures on some of the more expendable bodily functions, while preserving some of the more vital functions.
 

It might sound at first that it would be good for people to constantly be in the conservation mode. For, after all, one can never have too many resources and it is always good to conserve energy and resources, even if you have plenty, for potential problems that may lie ahead. However, resources are only of any value when they are put to use. The physical, mental, social and emotional resources that human beings have are necessary for their survival and productivity. They are put to use in providing for food and clothing, building shelters and homes, and building important interpersonal relationships that are of great value in times of difficulty. These resources are also important for the building of strong communities and societies. They are important in creating new ventures and making machines and tools that make life easier and increase the standard of living. They are necessary for the building up of mankind in general. So conserving resources continually can be a very big problem, especially when it prevents the resources from being used appropriately under the right conditions.

I believe that the body entering into conservation mode is an adaptive response in times and places where there is insufficient food, nutrients, or resources available to maintain life. For example, if a man was in prehistoric times and he broke his leg and was unable to hunt or obtain food efficiently, he would probably survive longer without food if his metabolism would appropriately decrease under the given circumstances. Likewise, his family could better survive the period of time without food if their metabolism slowed down appropriately. When his injured leg healed sufficiently to enable him to hunt again and obtain food for himself and his family, it would be appropriate for their metabolism to return to normal, enabling them to be more healthy and productive. If this response were not present when he broke his leg and was unable to feed his family, the metabolism would continue at the same pre-injury rate and there would be a greater chance that he and his family would starve and die.

This adaptive response can become maladaptive in the 20th century when an injured person can be taken to the hospital and given meals or l.V. nutrients to prevent starvation. His family may be able to go to the supermarket to purchase food, thereby eliminating the possibility of starving to death as the man is healing. In this situation, the response can be maladaptive because his metabolism may automatically drop in response to his injury. The function of his enzymes and his utilization of energy in order to heal may be impaired because of a less than optimal body temperature. The body enzymes, including those responsible for healing, may not function as effectively as they could.

Poor healing is a common finding in the patients that I see suffering from classic cases of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. They frequently do not heal as quickly, and often will have sores that will persist much longer than would be otherwise expected. Many patients have undergone surgery and have, during convalescence, developed many other symptoms of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. They can even suffer complications from the surgery in terms of wound infection, poor healing, and may even have to be opened again for revision of the wound because of infection and/or poor healing. Many of these patients notice that they do not heal as well with the onset of the symptoms of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. Thus, Wilson's Temperature Syndrome is a great condition to have in response to periods of fasting or famine, but it is not the most productive condition to have when there are good hospitals and food supplies available.

Thus, the conservation mode is maladaptive when it keeps the body from being happy, healthy, strong, and productive when there is no real threat of starvation. And the productivity mode is maladaptive when the body does not slow down under appropriate conditions and when it puts the body in danger of starving.

I frequently tell people with Wilson's Temperature Syndrome that it is not all together bad that they have the ability or tendency to develop the condition, because they have the capacity to slow down under adverse conditions and are probably less likely to starve if the supermarkets close down. But it is not the best condition to have if they want to enjoy healthy, happy and productive lives.

As I discuss later, there are a large number of disturbing symptoms that can result and maladaptively persist from Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. Many of these symptoms are familiar to all of us and are therefore often considered "normal." But there is a difference between common and ideal. It should not be assumed that these symptoms are mild, because they are often extremely debilitating. They can be so incapacitating that they can render a person almost a "metabolic cripple." It is maladaptive when these disturbing and burdensome complaints and symptoms persist inappropriately, when there is no need for the body's metabolism to be slow.

Since Wilson's Temperature Syndrome is essentially a stress and starvation coping mechanism gone amuck, one may be able to see how certain maladaptive situations can present themselves. For example, a person may be faced with being laid off from work because of the closing out of their department, and begin to have feelings of being overwhelmed and may enter into some depression and may develop headaches and other symptoms of the conservation mode. These symptoms are often brought on by a drop in body temperature patterns. The person may also have a tendency for increased fatigue and decreased motivation, and all these complaints may make it more difficult for the person to find alternative work If the person does have difficulty finding another job, then the temperature might drop further in response. This may result in worsening of the symptoms and thereby further decrease the available resources the person may need in order to find a job.

In Summary, the greater the tendency a body has to enter into the conservation mode, the greater the tendency a body has to remain in the conservation mode. The proper functioning of the body depends, in large part, on how effectively and how appropriately the body enters into and out of the conservation and productivity modes.