Wilson's Temperature Syndrome is the cluster of often debilitating symptoms especially brought on by physical or emotional stress that can persist even after the stress has passed (due to maladaptive slowing of the metabolism), which responds characteristically to the normalization of body temperature patterns (especially through the use of the WT3 protocol defined in the Doctor's Manual for Wilson's Syndrome and/or certain natural supplements). It is characterized by a body temperature that runs, on average, below normal, and routine thyroid blood tests are often in the "normal" range.
Now, let's go step-by-step through the definition so that we can more fully characterize Wilson's Temperature Syndrome.

A Cluster Of Seemingly Unrelated Symptoms
A cluster, because the symptoms tend to come on together in a group. All of us, when asked to describe what it feels like to have a fever, can give extremely similar answers, since elevated body temperature patterns can cause characteristic complaints. So, also, can low body temperature patterns cause characteristic complaints.

Since the body temperature is so fundamentally important in many of the processes of the human body, an abnormally low body temperature pattern can cause a multitude of different symptoms. Usually, but not always, patients suffering from Wilson's Temperature Syndrome complain of many of the symptoms (rather than just a few). Although they can come and go separately at different times, they frequently come on together in a group also. When the symptoms come and go together at the same time under the same circumstances, it is more likely that they are related.

It is extremely interesting that the symptoms don't always follow the same order of severity in every patient. For example, when I am interviewing patients I will always ask them which symptom or complaint is bothering them the most. Sometimes it will be fatigue, sometimes depression, sometimes migraines, sometimes PMS, sometimes fluid retention, etc., etc. In fact, almost every one of the symptoms listed in this book has been claimed by one patient or another as being their most significant complaint. So one can see how varied the presentation of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome can be.

Some of the symptoms can seem unrelated because it is hard for most people to understand how one problem can be the cause of so many different complaints. But when one understands the fundamental importance of body temperature patterns on the functioning of the human body, it becomes much less difficult to understand.

As we have discussed, body temperature patterns reflect the thyroid hormone/thyroid hormone receptors interaction and closely correlate with the resulting symptoms of decreased thyroid system function. So any thyroid hormone treatment that does not consider body temperature patterns may not adequately alleviate the resulting symptoms of DTSF. The treatment described in this book does take into consideration the body temperature pattern, as well as peripheral conversion of T4 to T3. Since this treatment more effectively addresses the underlying problem and is directed towards the root of the problem, it more effectively alleviates the symptoms of DTSF when they are present, improving the symptoms both more completely and more quickly. Because of this, it is more evident which symptoms improve together, and therefore, which symptoms are more likely to be related. It becomes apparent that there are many more symptoms related to DTSF than has been previously realized.

What is interesting is that these symptoms appear not to be just a little related, but very much related to DTSF. For example, dry coarse skin, impaired memory, constipation, hair loss, brittle nails, depression, and fluid retention are well known symptoms related to hypothyroidism. But other symptoms, generally not considered as being related, including panic attacks, premenstrual syndrome, migraine headaches, irritability, asthma, allergies, and others, have been found to be.

Brought On By Stress
The symptoms usually come on together, especially after significant physical, mental, or emotional stress. The symptoms cannot always be easily related to episodes of stress, because sometimes the onset of symptoms is more subtle. But when they come on together after a significant stress, they are easier to recognize as being related. As has been pointed out earlier, the body frequently responds to stress by slowing down the metabolism, by slowing down the conversion of T4 to T3. It does this to conserve energy. The only problem is that the impaired conversion of T4 to T3 can persist even after the stress has passed, causing a person to be inappropriately stuck in the conservation mode. This can prevent him/her from being as productive as s/he otherwise might be and may lead to inappropriately persistent symptoms.

If careful histories are taken, one may find that patients will go through a period of stress and will slow down. When the stress is over, they will usually come back up to normal. Later they may slow down and come back up to normal after another stress. Then finally, after one particular stress, a patient may slow down, develop symptoms of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome, and stay down even after the stress resolves. Subsequent stresses may further impair the patient's conversion of T4 to T3, and some of their persistent symptoms may worsen and they may also develop additional symptoms.

So really Wilson's Temperature Syndrome is a coping mechanism gone amuck, an adaptive response responding maladaptively. It is a condition that can persist for many, many years, even forty to fifty years. It is not an immediately life-threatening condition, but it may contribute to increased deaths over time from higher cholesterol levels and coronary artery disease. And it can affect, to an amazing degree, the quality of life and productivity of a person. But, if recognized and properly treated, it can often be easily remedied.

However, subsequent stresses can cause this problem to return. Typical episodes that can precipitate the symptoms of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome include childbirth, divorce, death of a loved one, job or family stress, surgery or accidents, smoking and then quitting, and others. It is quite common for patients to pinpoint the fact that after a certain stressful event in their life such as the death of their father, they identifiably, and unequivocally have not been the same since (even though it may have occurred fifteen or twenty years previously). Sometimes they attribute the way they feel to the loss being so great, they sometimes feel that it changed the whole condition of their lives. However, for some patients, even though their father did die, they feel they have bounced back fairly readily (being left without financial problems and still having plenty of loved ones and family members to whom they can relate), but they still cannot seem to return to normal. The patients themselves will often be perplexed as to why they should stay persistently symptomatic and never quite get over the traumatic experience, even though mentally and psychologically they feel that they have recovered. They may have been close to their father, but they know that their father would have them get on with their lives and they feel fully psychologically and mentally prepared to do it, but they still have significant physical problems which they cannot overcome. These patients frequently get their answer when they come to realize that their physical complaints and problems weren't psychological, or mental at all; when with proper thyroid hormone therapy their symptoms resolve with normalization of body temperature patterns and the restoration of their metabolism back to the productivity mode.

The Patient's Story
1. When patients with Wilson's Temperature Syndrome go to a doctor for relief, it is helpful to determine what complaint is bothering the patient the most. This is what is known as a chief complaint. Sometimes patients will offer only a chief complaint without volunteering any other symptoms. This may be because they don't realize that their other symptoms could possibly be related, or because they are not of a severity that concerns the patient, or perhaps because they are afraid to be labeled complainers or hypochondriacs. But, additional complaints, or characteristics can provide important clues to the underlying ailment or condition.

2. It is also helpful to ascertain from the patient when the major complaint or complaints first began. Wilson's Temperature Syndrome is more obvious when the complaints come on together in a group after a major stress because the onset is more identifiable. However, some patients have more subtle presentations, having some of the symptoms for even all of their lives. Frequently, the symptoms will worsen after subsequent stresses becoming progressively worse and more pronounced, and may even increase in number. It is also helpful to inquire of the patient what situations or circumstances seem to make the symptoms worse and which seem to make them better. Patients may notice that under conditions in which they are not under as much stress, when they are able to get more regular exercise, and with certain eating habits such as a hypoglycemic diet (for example, higher in protein, lower in carbohydrates taken in six small meals rather than in three large meals per day), their symptoms will often improve greatly.

3. It is also helpful to find out from the patient if these symptoms have responded to treatment of any kind in the past, and if the patient has been treated previously with thyroid medication. The symptoms of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome often improve in a group when patients are given thyroid medication. However, when a patient with Wilson's Temperature Syndrome is treated with thyroxin (T4), the symptoms usually improve for a period of time (usually for about three months), and then will often go downhill again. If the dose of thyroxin is increased the patient's symptoms will, again, frequently improve for a short period of time (often the same amount of time as with the first dosage), with the symptoms then worsening again. This cycle may repeat itself several times, with the patient's symptoms improving for a time and then worsening again with each successive increase of T4 medication. Frequently, if the T4 dosage is increased one too many times, then the symptoms can worsen "right off the bat" without there first being any improvement. This is generally an unfavorable sign that indicates that the patient's thyroid system is being pushed too far in the wrong direction, with the wrong medicine, because of the feeding of the vicious cycle of T4 to T3 conversion impairment rather than the reversing of the vicious cycle.

4. There are people who seem to have a greater predisposition towards developing Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. Their presentations of the symptoms of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome are generally less dramatically associated with precipitating events. They more often have had the symptoms for many, many years, possibly for their entire lives. So it is more difficult for them to be able to notice the onset of the symptoms since they don't really know what it feels like to be "normal."

5. When patients are asked about their past medical history, it is often found that they have been treated with many of the symptomatic treatments that are listed later in this chapter. They may even have been diagnosed as having a "thyroid" problem and told that they need to stay on thyroid medicine "for the rest of their lives." If DTSF goes widely misunderstood, and is commonly overlooked today, then certainly it has been misunderstood and overlooked previously, and thus, not all past thyroid diagnoses are necessarily correct. Patients who have been told they have a "goiter" may not have had a "goiter" (swelling of the thyroid gland due to stimulation of the thyroid gland by TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone). Patients may have been told that they had frank hypothyroidism when they did not. Especially considering the difficulty in actually measuring the thyroid hormone/thyroid hormone receptor interaction. All previous thyroid system diagnoses should be taken with a grain of salt. Because, even if the diagnoses are correct, they may not be the only thyroid system abnormality present causing the symptoms of DTSF (there are several causes of DTSF and more than one can be present at one time). There have been patients that I have treated who were diagnosed as having hypothyroidism twenty years ago. They were started on T4 medication and told that they were going to remain on T4 for the rest of their lives. Yet, even with T4 medication the patients' symptoms of DTSF remained inadequately addressed. With the WT3 protocol the patients' symptoms were relieved with the symptoms remaining persistently better even after all thyroid hormone medication had been gradually weaned. Patients diagnosed in the past as having hypothyroidism may actually have had Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. If the patient states that his "hypothyroidism" happened twenty years ago after he was involved in a major car accident or divorce, then the likelihood the patient actually had Wilson's Temperature Syndrome increases. This is because Wilson's Temperature Syndrome is more commonly brought on by a precipitating event or major life crisis than is hypothyroidism. 6. Of course, when a patient is taking thyroid hormone therapy, their own thyroid system function is suppressed temporarily. It is interesting to see patients' thyroid glands come up and function normally even after they have been suppressed for twenty or thirty years. These patients may never have suffered from hypothyroidism in the first place, but rather from Wilson's Temperature Syndrome.

It is hard to imagine that such a simple problem can cause so many and such severe complaints and can stay in a person's body for so long when it frequently can be corrected so quickly and easily with proper treatment. It can be a very touching thing, because many patients that I see, when their symptoms resolve quickly with treatment, are often tearful when they realize that they don't have to spend the rest of their lives feeling unwell. It's sad when they realize that twenty or thirty years of their lives have passed, and once thirty years have passed. Those years can't be retrieved or relived. Although the burden may be lifted for the rest of their lives, it is sometimes bittersweet, because they sometimes can't help but look back and wonder how things might have been if the problem had been treated thirty years earlier.

Maladaptively Slow
Somewhere along the line a person decides when their complaints and conditions are normal and when they are abnormal. Doctors also make the distinction between normal or abnormal as they are deciding whether or not to treat a particular condition. The patients that I treat usually determine their complaints to be abnormal when they feel they are inappropriate under the circumstances. It is normal to feel bad when one is sick with a cold, sore throat or other ailment. And when one has lots of pressures and stresses, it is understandable when one doesn't feel on top of the world. People recognize they have a problem, however, when their feelings cease to be appropriate with the things that face them. Different patients may express this in different ways:

"I get plenty of sleep and I'm still tired."

"I can't understand why I am depressed and having these bad feelings because there is nothing that's going wrong in my life, everything is fine."

"I can't understand why I can't concentrate and why I can't remember things."

'I can't understand why I can't get anything done at work when I used to be extremely sharp, and my business isn't really that challenging right now."

"My business is not extremely difficult, but I'm still having trouble functioning and trouble accomplishing even the smallest things."

"I can't understand why I'm so irritable, mean, and abusive towards the people that I love the most, namely; my family, my spouse, and my children."

"It literally scares me to look at my child, who I love more than anything else, when five minutes earlier I exploded in a rage of temper towards him for no good reason."

"I am trying to understand how and why I could possibly have those feelings of anger, considering how much I love my children and my family."

"I can't understand why I'm so miserable and depressed because I really love my job."

"I can't understand why I'm so anxious, fearful, and overwhelmed now, because everything is fine."

"I can't understand why I can't get things accomplished. I know a sinkful of dishes is not a big deal. I know emptying the garbage is not a big deal. I know that going to the grocery store is not a big deal. That's why I can't understand why I cannot get enough motivation, ambition, resources, or whatever it takes, to get it done."

"I can't accomplish the smallest things. And I can't figure it out because I should have plenty of resources to do them. I used to be able to accomplish tasks with no problem, but now I can't."

These are typical concerns of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome sufferers. It apparently is not too difficult for doctors to determine when a patient's symptoms seem to be inappropriate because they frequently treat the symptoms of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome separately, which will be discussed later in chapter 8.

Low Body Temperature
Wilson's Temperature Syndrome is characterized by a body temperature that runs, on average, below normal. Dr. Barnes' temperature test involved taking an underarm temperature using a glass thermometer as soon as one awakens in the morning (before rising).

For optimal enzyme function, it is important that the body temperature patterns run neither too high, too low, nor too unsteady. It is well known that the body temperatures do vary at different times in different situations. For example, body temperature tends to run lower in the morning, rises as the day progresses, and decreases again towards evening on a daily basis. Temperature patterns are also seen to change with monthly menstrual cycles, and it is for this reason that women take their temperature while they are attempting to get pregnant to determine ovulation. I believe there can also be seasonal variations in body temperature similar to the hibernation response in animals. And, of course, the body temperature patterns can be affected by activity, diet, and other factors.

Since the body temperature often follows a daily cycle, I prefer to have my patients take their temperatures orally beginning three hours after they have awakened and every three hours thereafter, three times a day (for example, if they awake at 7am; then take temps at 10am-1pm-4pm). There are several reasons for this:

l. It is understandable that people's body temperatures may be low upon rising each morning after having been asleep all night, considering the body temperature does tend to be a little bit lower during sleep. But if the body temperature patterns run significantly below normal even during the bulk of the day when they are supposed to be at their highest, then it is more likely that the patient has abnormally low body temperature patterns (thus there may be fewer false positives with this test as compared to the morning temperature test).

2. Since body temperature pattern stability is also important and since body temperatures can fluctuate up and down within hours, I prefer three readings each day which can help one get an idea of the steadiness of the body temperature pattern as well as how high or low the average temperature is. Ideally, the body temperature should be at the proper level and also be steady. If using digital thermometers, patients should make sure to replace the batteries as needed (once every two weeks?), and to not drop their thermometers from higher than 4 inches, otherwise they may become inaccurate. Environmental legislation is making mercury/glass thermometers less available. The important thing is to see the change in the patients' temps with treatment.

3. Oral temperatures are faster, and more convenient to take during the day than underarm temperatures.

From my experience, I would consider body temperature patterns that vary two or three tenths of a degree when measured several times during the waking hours to be relatively steady. I would consider body temperature patterns that fluctuate an entire degree or more to be relatively unsteady. This degree of unsteadiness, itself, is enough to explain adverse symptoms. I have seen patients that are not on any medicine, have their body temperature patterns fluctuate as much as two and even three degrees during the day.

Most commonly, the patients that I see who have symptoms of decreased thyroid system function, typically have body temperatures to average around 97.8 degrees. Some patients can be symptomatic with body temperatures of 98.2 degrees, on average. It is rare, but there are a few people who are symptomatic with body temperatures averaging 98.4 whose symptoms resolve when their body temperatures normalize to 98.6 degrees with the WT3 protocol. Again, most WTS patients' temperatures average around 97.8 degrees, but frequently patients' temperatures may be found to average from the high 96's to the mid-97's. Sometimes there are patients who are found to have body temperatures averaging in the 95's. I have seen at least one patient with temperatures in the 93's. So, although there can be some variation in the body temperature patterns, patients with Wilson's Temperature Syndrome who are complaining of the symptoms MED generally have body temperatures that average about 8/10 of a degree below the accepted normal of 98.6 degrees. When they receive the WT3 protocol, normalizing their average body temperature to 98.6 degrees, their symptoms are most likely to resolve.

No, not everyone that has a body temperature that averages below normal has DTSF, Wilson's Temperature Syndrome, or MED. But a body temperature pattern that averages consistently below normal is more than enough to explain the complaints and symptoms of MED, and Wilson's Temperature Syndrome should be one of, if not the first, possible causes considered. Of all the characteristics of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome, body temperature patterns have by far the most predictive value in terms of diagnosis and monitoring of treatment. In fact, if a patient's body temperature pattern does not average below normal, then it is far less likely that he will respond favorably to T3 treatment.
 

A patient's family history may reveal that many people in his family have been diagnosed with "thyroid problems". Thyroid system problems, in general, tend to run in families. And Wilson's Temperature Syndrome, in specific, also appears to have a hereditary component.

It is interesting to me, considering Wilson's Temperature Syndrome is basically a starvation coping mechanism gone amuck that it seems to be more prevalent in patients who ancestors survived famine. Noting, that T4 to T3 conversion impairment is brought on by periods of starvation or fasting, I began questioning my patients carefully regarding their ancestry.

I was able to see a very definite pattern, namely, that there are some people who have a greater tendency towards developing Wilson's Temperature Syndrome than others. These people tend to have a slightly different pattern of presentation than do people who have a greater resistance towards developing Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. Interestingly, the patients who seem to be the most predisposed towards developing Wilson's Temperature Syndrome (earlier in life with less provocation) seem to predominantly belong to certain nationalities such as, Scotch, Irish, Welsh, American Indian and Russian (as well as from other countries which have been plagued with famine). The greatest tendency of all is exhibited among those patients who are part Irish and part American Indian. But, people of any nationality can develop Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. Patients who have a greater tendency towards developing Wilson's Temperature Syndrome frequently have a light complexion with freckles, light-colored eyes, and red hair (or red highlights such as auburn colored hair). Irish and Scot people frequently have these characteristics of course, but there are people from other countries who also seem to have a tendency towards red hair, light-colored skin, and light-colored eyes who seem to be prone to WTS (e.g. northern Italy). So there does seem to be connection to nationalities who have survived famine. There also may be an independent correlation with the genetic makeup that is consistent with people having light colored skin, freckles, red highlights or red hair, and light-colored eyes. Some days it seems as if half the people in the waiting room have red hair when I know that half the population does not.

It is not too difficult to understand how Wilson's Temperature Syndrome would be more prevalent among people whose ancestors survived famine, considering that people can compensate for starvation conditions by, among other things, decreasing the conversion of T4 to T3 in their bodies, which results in a conservational slowing down of the metabolism. As discussed previously, this impaired conversion is designed to return to normal once the starvation conditions have passed, so that the person might be able to return to a more productive and enjoyable life. It stands to reason that there may be some people who are able to compensate better than others, and one will not be among the survivors of a famine unless he is amongst the most adaptive to the conditions. The people who cannot slow down their T4 to T3 conversion (in response to starvation conditions) would be more likely to die. And those whose bodies can more readily adapt by slowing down T4 to T3 conversion are more likely to survive, and are more likely to pass this trait on to their offspring.
As it turns out, the more readily the T4 to T3 conversion can slow down, the more readily it can stay down causing people whose ancestors survived famine to be more likely to develop Wilson's Temperature Syndrome.

2 Classic Presentations
The presentations of those who are more predisposed to WTS and those who aren't are typically different.

Patients who are more predisposed to developing Wilson's Temperature Syndrome tend to have more subtle courses. The symptoms tend to show up earlier in life, and with comparatively mild provocations. Sometimes they have Wilson's Temperature Syndrome even from birth (birth can be quite traumatic). Their symptoms are often less dramatic in onset. And although they will often worsen with stresses, they tend not to be as dramatically precipitated by stressful events as they are in patients who are less predisposed to WTS . Sometimes, patients with a predisposition for Wilson's Temperature Syndrome might develop the condition at the age of 7 or 8 after they have their tonsils removed, when they start junior high school, after changing to a new school, after moving to a new town at age 5, and/or when there was any family discord in the patient's home such as divorce (which is not mild, of course, but often occurs early in a person's life). These patients frequently comment that they are not sure what it feels like to be normal, and they probably don't. Their symptoms sometimes increase in number gradually over the years, rather than all at the same time.

On the other hand, patients who are less predisposed often have a much more dramatic onset of their symptoms. They usually occur later in life, at least in the late teens or early 20's, frequently in the 30's and 40's, and sometimes in the 50's or 60's or older. They may go for 35 years without having any sort of problems whatsoever, then suddenly develop 25 or 30 symptoms coming on together at the same time after a major stress (such as a car accident or divorce), with the symptoms persisting long after the stress has passed. There is frequently a remarkable difference in their quality of life.

Through working with the large number of patients that I have seen with this condition, these two patterns of presentation call to mind the following analogy. It is similar to what happens when one considers the difference between a large dam and a small dike. In the event of a flood, rain water would build up and rise up against the resistance provided by a small dike and soon overcome its resistance and flood. So the difference before and after would not be that significant since the dike would do little to slow down the pressure exerted by the floodwaters. However, the large dam providing much more resistance, would hold back a much larger volume of water. As the days would pass and the heavy rains would continue, the water would build up against the wall of the dam. Over a period of weeks, the floodwaters would possibly even get near to the top of the dam. All the while the land on the other side of the dam would remain relatively dry. However, if the pressure were to become too much for the dam and it were to break, then tons of concrete and millions and millions of gallons of water would suddenly come crashing down on the other side of the dam. This would cause a dramatic onset of circumstances from before to after.

This can explain why people with a stronger predisposition towards Wilson's Temperature Syndrome seem to have a more subtle onset of their symptoms and complaints, while patients with a greater resistance seem to have a much more dramatic onset of their complaints later in life, usually developing a large number of symptoms at once after a significant physical, mental, or emotional stress.

As it turns out, patients who seem to have a greater predisposition towards developing Wilson's Temperature Syndrome initially, also seem to be more prone towards relapsing again after successful treatment has been weaned, and after a subsequent stress. However, patients with lesser predisposition who stay well until later in life (35 or 40 years old) should be able to remain normal for a good number of years after treatment has been discontinued (unless they are pulverized by another subsequent stress). Of course, if the stress is severe enough (e.g., child abuse), even individuals with a great deal of resistance can develop Wilson's Temperature Syndrome in their childhood.

If patients with a history of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome do relapse, it is usually easier to correct a subsequent episode than previous ones if it is caught early enough. If a patient undergoes a significant stress, say, 7 to 8 months after treatment has been discontinued and begins to relapse, T3 therapy can be started to help prevent a full-blown relapse. Usually small doses for a couple of weeks (or until the stress has passed) are sufficient.

Some patients who are especially prone to Wilson's Temperature Syndrome, and who have gained enough experience to predict the degree of stress that can precipitate a relapse, can benefit from an extremely low prophylactic dosage of liothyronine (T3). For example, let's suppose you had a job such that once every 4 months it was necessary to make a large-scale presentation to your employers and to a group of hundreds of people. This might be quite a stressful situation. Now if this situation precipitates WTS symptoms, then you may be able to prevent the symptoms by taking an extremely low dose of the WT3 protocol the day before, the day of, and possibly for a couple of days after your presentation. There are patients who find they have much less physical and mental problems with this approach, and they are frequently able to avoid relapses. Some patients who are, for example, part Irish and part Indian, and who are found to have a significant predisposition towards developing Wilson's Temperature Syndrome, may elect to be maintained on a small maintenance regimen of the WT3 protocol to help ward off a relapse. Usually, however, it is generally preferable to remain off medicine when possible.
 

About 80% of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome sufferers are women. Over the years, working with thousands of patients, I have developed a certain perspective on the functioning of the human body. Of course, the human body is a complex and wondrous system. It has been discussed in previous chapters how the thyroid hormones, female hormones, and adrenal systems can be interrelated. I believe, of course, that nutrition, exercise, and environmental conditions also affect the functioning of the overall system. As mentioned previously, I picture these different influences and systems to be related like many different ropes tied to a single ring with pressure being exerted on the ring by the ropes in many different directions. The position of the ring, depends on the amount of tension in each of the ropes. So that if one rope develops an unusually large amount of tension, it can pull the ring out of position, thereby affecting the rest of the ropes as well. Depending on the various tensions in the rope, I believe the system can sometimes get "out of balance."

It seems that there are some people whose body is more flexible or adaptive than others with their "ring" being capable of a wider range of "positions." Sometimes this flexibility or adaptiveness can be quite important. The survival of the species may even depend on it.

Of course, tremendous system changes are required in the process of menstruation, ovulation, conception, pregnancy, delivery, and returning to normal after pregnancy. I remember being astounded in medical school when we first studied the physiological changes that take place in a women's body as she is carrying a child, even in terms of the values of blood tests, heart rate, respirations, glucose metabolism, hemoglobin levels, etc. It was amazing that these great changes could even be compatible with life. I have heard it said that there are three types of people in the world, men, women, and pregnant women. I can see the meaning of this statement, because the difference between a woman and a pregnant woman does almost seem to be as great as the difference between a man and a woman. Not in any derogatory sense, but I do remember thinking that the difference between a woman and a pregnant woman seemed to be as great as the difference between two different species. It was eye-opening, because again, in many ways pregnant women look much like non-pregnant women in that they have two eyes, hair, teeth, skin, arms, legs; and in that they walk, talk, and function in a way that is quite similar to non-pregnant women. But if one wanted to compare the "position of the ring" of a woman during pregnancy as compared to that same woman prior to pregnancy, I think that most people would be extremely surprised by the huge difference. The difference would be due to the change in "tensions" in the many different factors that affect the function of the body including the amount of blood pumped per minute by the body, calories consumed, materials produced, oxygen consumed, carbon dioxide produced, female hormones, thyroid hormones, adrenal hormones, dietary intake, exercise, stress levels, etc. So it is not hard to imagine that the total body system of a pregnant woman can sometimes be "out of bounds" as compared to when she is not pregnant. Women demonstrate amazing hormonal and physical flexibility through the miracle of pregnancy.

Men do not as often demonstrate such great flexibility. Indeed, they may not have such flexibility. As we noted previously in the discussion of hereditary predisposition towards Wilson's Temperature Syndrome, some people are more flexible or adaptive than others and can more easily enter into the conservation mode in response to prevailing conditions. I feel that women naturally have a greater degree of flexibility and adaptiveness than men. It stands to reason that the more readily one can get "out of bounds," the more readily one can stay "out of bounds." So I feel that women are more likely to get out of bounds and stay out of bounds than men because they can (that is, they are more flexible). However, under periods of severe stress, since Wilson's Temperature Syndrome is nothing more than an aberration of an inherent stress/starvation coping mechanism and since this coping mechanism is present in every human's body, anyone can, under severe enough circumstances, develop Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. It can affect men and women of all ages and from all walks of life. It can happen to anyone. Careful histories should be taken in all patients. Even though the condition and symptoms tend to worsen in a step-wise fashion after subsequent stresses, the condition can sometimes worsen in one step and stay persistently low at that level, neither getting better nor getting worse even for years. In such cases the symptoms can be shown to be related when they resolve together in a group with the WT3 protocol.
 

How can Wilson's Temperature Syndrome be so common? This is not a new condition, although it does seem to be on the rise. It may be argued that we live in one of the most stressful periods of time in history. With the advent of the telephone and the airplane and the computer, the world is becoming a smaller and smaller place. There is a great deal of political unrest, and many struggling national economies. There is more and more pervasive drug abuse, pornography, child abuse, dysfunctional families, divorce, crime, moral decay, and other significant problems. Though the world may be a wonderful place in which to live, not many would argue against these being challenging times.

Medical advances may be contributing. When in medical school studying genetics and also studying the vast explosion of medical knowledge and expertise that has taken place within the last 80 years, I marveled how so many people's lives have been changed and saved by the progress of medical science. With the advent of antibiotics many people that would have died from pneumonia, appendicitis, and even severe ear infections were saved by the elimination of the infection through antibiotic treatment. Babies that were born prematurely were able to be saved through the use of respirator machines, IV fluids, the development of special nutritional formulas, etc. Younger and younger premature babies were able to survive because of these advances in neonatology technology. Great advances have been made in the surgical field. New approaches and techniques have been developed, especially for critically ill patients and trauma victims such as those people injured in severe car accidents. These advances have also kept many more people alive who would have otherwise died. In addition, great advances have been made in pediatric medicine enabling doctors to save the lives of more and more critically ill children. Advances have also been made in the field of oncology, with treatment being able to extend life and even to cure the cancer in more and more people.

I wondered something while I was learning about these advances in medical technology. We are all different. And our physical differences sometimes manifest themselves in how we develop and respond to illness and injuries. Some of us are more likely to develop cancer, asthma, or to be overwhelmed by infection; while some of us are more likely to survive a premature birth, heart attack, or severe car accident. But if medical technology became able to alter how some people develop and respond to certain illnesses and injuries, would their physical differences then manifest themselves in how they develop and respond to other diseases and injuries? If the percentage of people dying from a certain cause decreases because of some advancement, then the percentage that die from another must increase, since we all have to die of something.

People who slip into conservation mode more easily than others, are more likely to be able to survive famine. Unfortunately, people who are more likely to slip into conservation mode are also more likely to stay in that mode inappropriately. This makes them more susceptible to infections, poor wound healing, poor recovery from injuries, and probably poor immune system function. I believe that over the centuries famines have left the population with a greater percentage of people who can slip more easily into conservative mode. However, this has been counterbalanced by the whittling down of this percentage due to decreased recovery from severe infections, illnesses and injuries. On the other hand, advancements in medical technology over the past couple of generations, have greatly increased this percentage's chances for surviving such health problems. This has made it possible for a greater percentage of people, who tend to slip inappropriately into conservative mode, to survive. More and more of them are living long enough to experience the persistent and debilitating symptoms of MED caused by abnormal body temperature patterns caused by Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. They are also living long enough to pass their predisposition for WTS to their children. With more of such people being born, more surviving, and with increasing stress in the world, more and more people will suffer from Wilson's Temperature Syndrome.
 

Next, we will explore some typical causes of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. The symptoms in this book all have some things in common. They each have been seen to come on together with some of the other symptoms in a group, and to resolve together with some of the other symptoms with normalization of body temperature patterns.

Patients can usually relate the onset of their symptoms to an identifiable stress (usually within weeks, days or even hours after the precipitating event). With less insidious onsets, the symptoms surface gradually within two months of a particular stress. At other times a precipitating event cannot be identified at all. The stress correlation is much more obvious when the symptoms come on within days, if not hours after the stress. Through these obvious cases, it has been easy to identify typical causes of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. Interestingly, emotional stresses seem to be as prevalent as, if not more prevalent than, physical stresses as causes of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome.

Considering the great flexibility and adaptivity of the female hormonal and physical systems, it is easy to understand why pregnancy and childbirth are the number one causes of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. This same pattern has been seen during other periods of great hormonal system fluctuations, such as menarche (the onset of a young woman's first menstrual cycle), puberty, administration of birth control pills, hysterectomy, and administration of female hormone replacement therapy for menopause. It is not difficult to imagine how Wilson's Temperature Syndrome could be precipitated at these times of hormonal changes since changes in the "tensions" can affect the position of the "ring" (overall balance of body functions). When the overall balance of body functions is changing it's easier for it to be pulled off center. The further out of balance it gets, the more likely the overall balance is to stay out of balance. No wonder childbirth and pregnancy would be the number one causes of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. It's difficult to imagine a time when there is a greater change in the overall balance of bodily functions. Bringing a child into the world is more than enough to explain how a woman might change in certain respects, never quite being the same. Fortunately, the condition can often be very much improved with the WT3 protocol.

Certainly stressful life-styles can predispose people to developing Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. Being raised in a dysfunctional family can frequently contribute to its development. Too often, patients can trace the onset of their Wilson's Temperature Syndrome to the time that they were abused physically, emotionally, or sexually as a child in their home. I recall the sad story of one patient in her late thirties or early forties. She could easily trace the onset and persistence of her symptoms to a time when she was in second grade. At that time, she was locked in a safe for a time as a punishment by a strict disciplinarian at school. Needless to say, she was quite frightened and uncomfortable. Not surprisingly, she has been panicky and claustrophobic in elevators and other types of places since then. Such a story certainly sounds psychological in nature, until the persistent symptoms begin to resolve quickly as a group with the administration of the WT3 protocol.

Difficult living conditions brought about by the alcoholism or drug dependence of a person's parents can also lead to Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. Sadly, patients will sometimes recount the onset of their symptoms to be the time they were raped in their teens, twenties, or thirties. Certain occupations can contribute to patients developing Wilson's Temperature Syndrome, especially


1. Jobs that involve a great deal of stress, such as certain high pressure sales positions where the person is constantly under the threat of losing his job because of not being able to meet quotas, etc.
2. Jobs that carry a lot of responsibility, especially in terms of being responsible for others, and where one is in a position where he or she is responsible for getting others to produce.
3. Difficult job situations where there is a great deal of discontent, hostility, arguing, and great emotional pressure.
4. Jobs that involve extremely long work hours and poor sleep habits, or that deprive a person of proper exercise and nutrition by encouraging the patient not to eat all day, but to eat one big meal at nighttime right before going to sleep.
5. Certain work-related injuries with heavy equipment, such as back injuries.
6. Emotionally punishing jobs seem to cause problems more often than physically punishing jobs, especially when there is no opportunity to relieve or counteract that stress with proper exercise and nutrition.
7. Of course, large pay cuts or losing one's income because of being laid off, fired, or losing a business, especially when there are unexpected expenses.


Again, we see that the condition is most commonly caused when one's resources are perceived by the body to be inadequate for the challenges being presented. This may occur when the resources are significantly decreased (losing a job), or when the challenges are significantly increased (aged parent becoming ill and needing to be nursed back to health).

It is a continuous source of fascination for me to see the varied and unusual circumstances that can precipitate Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. Again, it is easy to identify the precipitating events when the symptoms are related to one another in onset and are very easily related to a significant change in a person's life, when no other obvious explanation can be identified, and especially when the symptoms resolve together at the same time when the body temperature patterns are normalized with proper thyroid hormone treatment.

As it turns out, tonsillectomy is also a common cause of Wilson's Temperature Syndrome. I'm sure all of us have wondered from time to time about the consequences of removing different parts of the body that have been with us since birth (tonsils, appendix, gall bladder, etc.). I have heard many patients say:

"I was fine until I was eight years old and had my tonsils out, and I have never been quite the same since."
"I was fine until I was eleven years old and had my tonsils out and I have never been quite the same since."
"I was fine until I was nineteen years old and I had my tonsils out and I have never been quite the same since."

This is a reproducible presentation with the patients developing classic signs and symptoms that respond well to the WT3 protocol.

Because of the many classic and obvious cases I have seen, I have also been able to see the same pattern of onset in more subtle presentations and cases. One patient I treated in her early fifties, responded well to the WT3 protocol and enjoyed a persistent resolution of her Wilson's Temperature Syndrome symptoms for ten months, even after thyroid hormone treatment had been weaned. She was fine until one day she was walking down the sidewalk and accidentally bumped her head on a tree limb. She was not severely injured and the incident startled her more than anything else, yet she noticed, especially the next day, the relapsing of some of her symptoms. I am convinced that this small incident caused her symptoms to relapse since she could think of no other unusual circumstances, and since she recognized the symptoms coming on together, and responding together in the same way they did with the first occurrence.

Over the years, h