Many people suffer from thyroid disease in India and across the world. It is a condition that affects individuals of any age. The thyroid controls the metabolism of a person, apart from creating and spreading various hormones.
Thyroid is a crucial endocrine gland that has an impact on different systems throughout the body of an individual to a significant extent. A person sustains a thyroid disorder when the production of all these hormones is insufficient or excessive.
Reading further will help you enrich your knowledge of the two primary types of thyroid disordors, besides its functions, causes, risks, signs and symptoms, major tests and remedies.
Main Functions of Thyroid
The thyroid is a crucial part of human beings’ endocrine system. It plays a major role in regulating various functions of the body because this butterfly-shaped gland produces and releases some specific hormones.
The thyroid can control the metabolic rate, a vital procedure of how the human body performs the smooth transformation of the consumed food into energy. It is unable to do so when it does not function in an effective manner. Eventually, the entire body suffers from its malfunction.
Here are the hormones that the thyroid releases.
- Thyroxine
- Triiodothyronine
- Reverse Triiodothyronine
- Calcitonin
The thyroid gland requires sufficient iodine as well as water in order to produce necessary hormones. The presence of less or excessive iodine in a person’s body can adversely impact the level or quantity of hormones that this gland in the endocrine system produces and discharges. Thyroid hormones directly affect these bodily functions.
- Metabolism
- Breathing
- Heart rate
- Digestion
- Fertility
- Mental activity
- Brain Development
- Body Temperature
- Skin and Bone maintenance
Who is at a Higher Risk of Sustaining a Thyroid Disease?
The causes of thyroid in females and males are almost similar. However, most women undergo a diagnostic test for thyroid at least six to eight times more in comparison to men. Here’s when you are at a greater risk of suffering from a thyroid disorder.
- If one or more members in your family have a thyroid condition
- If you have one of these medical conditions, including Type 1 diabetes, Turner syndrome, pernicious anaemia, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.
- If you had to undergo treatment for a previous thyroid disorder or any sort of cancer
- If a medicine you take daily has a high iodine content
Conditions that Have an Adverse Impact on the Thyroid Gland
A couple of cardinal types of thyroid conditions are hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. Apart from these two conditions, different types of thyroid cancer and goitres affect the thyroid gland significantly.
Hyperthyroidism
Hyperactive thyroid, in medical terms, is regarded as hyperthyroidism. Such a condition happens when the production and discharge of thyroid hormones is more than what a human body requires. Hyperthyroidism causes the metabolic rate to increase to a great extent.
Nearly one out of a hundred individuals over 12 years of age suffer from this condition. Hyperthyroidism occurs because of thyroid nodules, Grave’s disorder, thyroid inflammation, postpartum thyroiditis, a benign tumour in the pituitary gland and excessive iodine in the blood.
Hypothyroidism
Lessactive thyroid is hypothyroidism, which takes place when an individual’s thyroid gland loses the ability to produce and exude the required level of thyroid hormones. Several aspects of the body’s metabolism become slow owing to hypothyroidism.
Millions of people worldwide suffer from this particular condition. Besides autoimmune disorders such as Hashimoto’s disease, thyroiditis, non-functioning thyroid since birth, absence of thyroid gland after removal and deficiency in iodine content cause hypothyroidism.
Typical Symptoms and Signs of Thyroid Disease
Various thyroid conditions happen for different reasons, which is why the symptoms of thyroid vary greatly. However, identifying some common thyroid symptoms is easy as the thyroid gland controls some specific body functions or processes. Here are some typical early signs of thyroid disease.
- Rapid or slow heart rate
- Inability to tolerate high or low temperature
- One of the thyroid symptoms in females is untimely menstrual periods
- Severe stress, anxiety or depression
- Sudden weight gain or loss
Diagnosis of Thyroid Types
Many a time, diagnosing thyroid disease is difficult as several other medical conditions have many similar symptoms. There isn’t much difference between the symptoms of thyroid condition and when a person is ageing or pregnant.
However, certain diagnostic tests help patients to learn if the symptoms are due to a thyroid problem. The two common tests one must undergo for the diagnosis of thyroid types include blood tests and imaging tests.
Blood Tests
It is easier to determine through blood tests whether one has a thyroid issue. These blood tests clearly indicate if a person’s thyroid gland is alright and functioning well. A physician or diagnostician extracts blood from a vein in a patient’s arm to diagnose the causes of thyroid disease. Experts measure the thyroid-stimulating hormone level in the blood to understand whether the gland is fine.
Imaging Tests
A thyroid scan is a medical imaging test that a medical expert conducts only if blood test not give a clear indication of a thyroid condition. Experienced diagnosticians use a very small amount of a not-so-harmful radioactive element in order to create a thyroid ultrasound or image of the thyroid gland. A thyroid scan is a reliable test for thyroid disease.
What are the Effective Treatment Options for Thyroid Conditions?
The very next step is choosing the most suitable treatment once physicians detect the actual symptoms of thyroid condition. Always remember that the sole objective of a healthcare provider is to help you get over the thyroid problem and ensure the hormone level returns to normal.
Besides the use of anti-thyroid drugs and radioactive iodine, a more permanent thyroid treatment is surgery, which helps remove the thyroid gland.
Using beta blockers helps manage thyroid symptoms in females and males effectively.
Conclusion
It is of the utmost importance to consult a healthcare specialist with extensive experience to learn whether you have a thyroid condition. Moreover, make sure you choose a leading diagnostic centre to undergo a diagnosis of thyroid disease.
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