Eating a healthier diet makes sense regardless of whether it will improve
her thyroid condition or not, because her thyroid may not be the only thing
that ends up dead if she continues to eat unhealthy foods. A person I know
argued that feeding her diabetic child Paleo is pointless because the
pancreas is already "shot." What she doesn't seem to fully grasp is, the
health problems of diabetes don't end with the failure of the pancreas--they
continue with other complications, including blindness, limb amputation, and
eventually death. 

The main point of eating healthier is to potentially reduce or even prevent
further deterioration of existing problems and the risk of developing new
problems, not guarantee a cure of every problem we already have (and there's
also no guarantee that existing problems won't continue to deteriorate,
unfortunately). People who have one serious chronic ailment like thyroid
disease often have several other health ailments they don't think much
about. Often people will say, "I'm in perfect health, except for...." Even
if her thyroid problem is not helped at all, she may find she benefits from
other improvements by eating healthier.

The problem frequently seems to be that people want a quick-fix miracle cure
for their health problems and don't want to have to give up any of their
favorite foods in the process. That's why television is filled with ads for
the latest pills.

> In a message dated 4/23/2007 8:57:05 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask]
> writes:
> 
> A friend  says her thyroid is "dead". She did not have it removed but
> she
> believes  it is totally inactive. She takes medication, of course. Is
> this enough  info for an opinion on whether diet could help lower the
> medication, or  should I try to get more?