What is situated immediately adjacent to this region? The thyroid gland is located in the neck wrapped around the esophagus! This endocrine gland produces hormones that control the metabolism of almost every tissue in the body including how they use energy, make proteins, and their sensitivity to other hormones.
Dr. William G. Crook in his 1980's book, "The Yeast Connection", was convinced that candidiasis and thyroid abnormalities were related. Whenever symptoms occur simultaneously, however, there is always the "chicken and egg" debate about which came first. Does Candida Albicans cause impairment of thyroid function or does low thyroid activity allow yeast to take hold? Perhaps there is a vicious cycle here where both aspects are true.
The acetaldehyde that is released by budding yeast metabolism in the esophageal lining is such a small molecule that it would have no trouble diffusing across the esophageal lining right into the proximity of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland produces and releases its hormones in response to circulating levels of TSH released by the pituitary gland. The TSH molecule alerts thyroid cells that more of their T3 and T4 hormones are needed by docking in a thyroid cell TSH receptor, an integral membrane protein called a G Protein-Coupled Receptor. As described in more detail in:
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these types of receptors may be exquisitely sensitive to rogue molecules of acetaldehyde. The damage to the structurally and functionally essential disulfide bridge inflicted upon the receptor by acetaldehyde may be sufficient to stop the receptor from responding to the TSH signals to produce thyroid hormones. When thyroid hormones are low, the immune system becomes sluggish and is less able to respond to yeast cells that are inhabiting the body. Yeast levels increase with more acetaldehyde production which further impairs thyroid function and the vicious cycle is in place.
Autoimmunity often plays a role in thyroiditis where the immune system begins to attack the cells of the thyroid gland, something that again impairs its ability to function and produce its essential hormones. Is there a link to acetaldehyde from yeast here as well?
Acetaldehyde is a highly reactive molecule. It has an electrophilic carbon atom that likes to latch onto any body structures in its path that present an attractive binding site. Exposed sulfur atoms and amine groups are plentiful and particularly vulnerable to this type of attack. These protein "adducts" are now unrecognizable to the immune system and may trigger an immune response because the body now considers these damaged cells to be "non-self" rather than "self".
Yeast colonization in the esophagus that often reveals its presence as a coated tongue, furry teeth, or in its advanced infectious state as thrush literally has a "strangle hold" on the metabolism of the body through its ability to impair thyroid function.