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Nature-Throid is a medication that is often prescribed for treating various thyroid problems. It is a "natural" product that is made from the thyroid glands of pigs. Nature-Throid comes in tablet form and is typically taken once daily. The drug meets certain consistency and potency standards, but is not FDA-approved. Potential side effects include high blood pressure, hair loss, and insomnia.

What Is Nature-Throid?

Nature-Throid™ (thyroid USP) is a prescription medication used to treat an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) and various other thyroid problems. Because Nature-Throid is made from the thyroid glands of pigs, it is considered a "natural" thyroid product.

 

(Click Nature-Throid Uses for more information, including possible off-label uses.)

 

Who Makes Nature-Throid?

Nature-Throid is manufactured by Western Research Laboratories.

 

Is Nature-Throid FDA- Approved?

Nature-Throid (as well as all other thyroid USP products) has never received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. Many Web sites imply that Nature-Throid is an FDA-approved product, but this is simply not the case. However, this is not necessarily as bad as it sounds. Many prescription medications have never received FDA approval. Almost always, these are old medications that were in use long before the FDA existed or before certain laws and regulations were in place. For instance, phenobarbital (Luminal^®), a prescription seizure medication, has never received FDA approval.

 

Synthetic thyroid replacement medications, sold under the name levothyroxine (Levoxyl^®, Levothroid^®, Synthroid^®, and others) were also unapproved until recently. The FDA required each of these medications to perform the necessary studies and seek approval. It is possible that the FDA may require natural thyroid products to do the same in the future. Until then, the lack of FDA approval for Nature-Throid may be a cause for concern. For instance, the prescribing information for Nature-Throid does not meet the usual FDA standards, since it does not list the possible side effects, except for a few listed with the warnings and precautions.

 

Nature-Throid contains thyroid USP, which means that the manufacturer has prepared the medication according to the formulation or "recipe" of the United States Pharmacopeia (a non-governmental organization) and that Nature-Throid should meet certain consistency and potency standards. It is important to note that meeting USP requirements is not the same as having FDA approval.