Dangers of Armour Thyroid and Swine Flu

People who require thyroid hormone replacement therapy can choose the natural, desiccated thyroid medication, Armour Thyroid. However, with the swine flu (H1N1) outbreak, there have been concerns about the possibility of transmission of swine flu through the pork-derived Armour Thyroid.

Armour Thyroid

• Armour Thyroid is manufactured by Forest Laboratories to replace the thyroid hormones, T3 (liothyronine) and T4 (levothyroxine), when the thyroid is in a hypothyroid state. It is usually a lifelong treatment.

Armour Thyroid Manufacturing Process

• The manufacture of pork thyroid glands into a thyroid hormone replacement medication involves the removal of fat, and the cleaning, purifying, and drying of the glands in a high heat process.

Swine Flu (H1N1)

• Swine flu is an airborne virus and spreads from touching an object that an infected person has touched and then transferring the virus to the mouth or nose, or by coughing and sneezing.

Swine Flu Danger from Armour Thyroid

• According to author and patient advocate, Mary Shoman, the spokesperson of the manufacturer of Armour Thyroid, Forest Laboratories, there is no known risk of swine flu to patients from the use of Armour Thyroid because of the manufacturing process a pig thyroid goes through in order to be made into Armour Thyroid.

  According to the CDC, the flu virus does not survive high heat (167°F to 212°F). The heating process that Armour Thyroid goes through is hotter than that which is required to destroy the flu virus.

Considerations

• The H1N1 flu virus does not survive on surfaces for longer than 2 to 8 hours. And the CDC has indicated that you cannot contract H1N1 from ingesting a pork product.