Thyroid Awareness Month

Thyroid Awareness

January is Thyroid Awareness Month. Thyroid disorders are relatively common and usually easy to treat once detected. Below is a list of thyroid diseases for Thyroid Awareness Month.

What is the Thyroid?

The thyroid is the gland in the neck that is responsible for the release of hormones. These hormones help to catalyze the metabolic rate at which a person can metabolize their nutrients. The thyroid is also responsible for protein synthesis. If the thyroid isn’t properly regulated, it can result in a few disorders; including hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.

Hyperthyroidism

According to the Mayo Clinic, “hyperthyroidism is a condition in which your thyroid gland produces too much of the hormone thyroxine.” The symptoms of hyperthyroidism include, “sudden weight loss, rapid heartbeat, increased appetite, nervousness, anxiety, irritability, tremor, sweating, fatigue, muscle weakness, thinning skin, and an enlarged thyroid gland – which is a goiter.” A few diseases that may cause hyperthyroidism are Graves’ disease, toxic adenoma, and Plummer’s disease. Hyperthyroidism can cause many complications including heart problems, brittle bones, eye problems, swollen skin and thyrotoxic crisis – a sudden onset of harsh symptoms. Blood tests and a thyroid scan can help determine if someone has hyperthyroidism. Treatment usually includes medicine, and in some cases surgery to remove the thyroid.

Hypothyroidism

The Mayo Clinic defines hypothyroidism as, “the condition in which your thyroid does not produce enough important hormones.” These symptoms include fatigue puffy face, hoarseness, dry skin, constipation, thinning hair, depression, impaired memory, muscle weakness and an elevated blood cholesterol level. The largest cause of hypothyroidism is Hashimoto’s disease. Treatment is usually resolved with medicine or a thyroidectomy.

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

This disease has over 10 million people diagnosed annually. Model Gigi Hadid recently opened up about her struggle with this disease. According to www.thyroidawareness.com, Hashimoto’s “results from a malfunction in the immune system.” The immune system of someone with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis mistakenly recognizes normal thyroid cells as foreign tissue, and it produces antibodies that may destroy these cells.” These symptoms include the same ones listed with hypothyroidism. To test Hashimoto’s requires an antithyroid test for antibodies, a TSH (Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone), and/or a fine-needle aspiration of the thyroid.

Thyroid Cancer

Thyroid cancer happens when the cells in the thyroid mutate into a malignant tumor. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms include, “a lump that can be felt through the skin, changes to your voice, hoarseness, difficulty swallowing, pain in your neck and throat, swollen lymph nodes in your neck.” Women are more likely to have thyroid cancer. Thyroid cancer is usually treatable. Surgery can remove the thyroid and lymph nodes. After the thyroid is removed, the patient will have to take hormone medicine for the remainder of their life. Targeted drug therapy and chemotherapy have been proved to be successful.

Final Thoughts

If you think that you may have any of these symptoms, please go see your primary physician or an endocrinologist immediately. If you have been diagnosed with any of these conditions, please comment about what it is like living with a thyroid ailment to bring about thyroid awareness.

Check out our other January Awareness article on Glaucoma!