If you're receiving hormone therapy for hypothyroidism, schedule follow-up visits as often as your doctor recommends. Initially, it's important to make sure you're receiving the correct dose of medicine. And over time, the dose you need may change. When your thyroid doesn't produce enough hormones, the balance of chemical reactions in your body can be upset. There can be a number of causes, including autoimmune disease, hyperthyroidism treatments, radiation therapy, thyroid surgery and certain medications.
Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland situated at the base of the front of your neck, just below your Adam's apple. Hormones produced by the thyroid gland — triiodothyronine T3 and thyroxine T4 — have an enormous impact on your health, affecting all aspects of your metabolism. These hormones also influence the control of vital functions, such as body temperature and heart rate.
Hypothyroidism results when the thyroid gland fails to produce enough hormones. Hypothyroidism may be due to a number of factors, including:. Autoimmune disease. The most common cause of hypothyroidism is an autoimmune disorder known as Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
Autoimmune disorders occur when your immune system produces antibodies that attack your own tissues. Sometimes this process involves your thyroid gland. Scientists aren't sure why this happens, but it's likely a combination of factors, such as your genes and an environmental trigger.
However it happens, these antibodies affect the thyroid's ability to produce hormones. This rare, life-threatening condition is the result of long-term, undiagnosed hypothyroidism. Its signs and symptoms include intense cold intolerance and drowsiness followed by profound lethargy and unconsciousness.
A myxedema coma may be triggered by sedatives, infection or other stress on your body. Depending on how much or how little hormone your thyroid makes, you may often feel restless or tired, or you may lose or gain weight. Women are more likely than men to have thyroid diseases, especially right after pregnancy and after menopause.
Your thyroid is a small butterfly-shaped gland found at the base of your neck, just below your Adam's apple. This gland makes thyroid hormone that travels in your blood to all parts of your body. The thyroid hormone controls your body's metabolism in many ways, including how fast you burn calories and how fast your heart beats.
Women are more likely than men to have thyroid disease. One in eight women will develop thyroid problems during her lifetime. Sometimes, symptoms of thyroid problems are mistaken for menopause symptoms. Thyroid disease, especially hypothyroidism, is more likely to develop after menopause.
Screening for thyroid disease is not recommended for most women. Hypothyroidism hy-poh-THY-roi-diz-uhm is when your thyroid does not make enough thyroid hormones. It is also called underactive thyroid. This slows down many of your body's functions, like your metabolism.
The most common cause of hypothyroidism in the United States is Hashimoto's disease. In people with Hashimoto's disease, the immune system mistakenly attacks the thyroid. This attack damages the thyroid so that it does not make enough hormones. Symptoms of hypothyroidism develop slowly, often over several years.
At first, you may feel tired and sluggish. Later, you may develop other signs and symptoms of a slowed-down metabolism, including:. You also may have high LDL or "bad" cholesterol, which can raise your risk for heart disease.
Hypothyroidism is treated with medicine that gives your body the thyroid hormone it needs to work normally. The most common medicines are man-made forms of the hormone that your thyroid makes. You will likely need to take thyroid hormone pills for the rest of your life. When you take the pills as your doctor tells you to, the pills are very safe.
Hyperthyroidism, hy-pur-THY-roi-diz-uhm or overactive thyroid, causes your thyroid to make more thyroid hormone than your body needs. This speeds up many of your body's functions, like your metabolism and heart rate. The most common cause of hyperthyroidism is Graves' disease. Graves' disease is a problem with the immune system. At first, you might not notice the signs or symptoms of hyperthyroidism.
Symptoms usually begin slowly. But, over time, a faster metabolism can cause symptoms such as:. Hyperthyroidism raises your risk for osteoporosis , a condition that causes weak bones that break easily. In fact, hyperthyroidism might affect your bones before you have any of the other symptoms of the condition. This is especially true of women who have gone through menopause or who are already at high risk of osteoporosis.
Your doctor's choice of treatment will depend on your symptoms and the cause of your hyperthyroidism. Treatments include:. Thyroiditis thy-roi-DY-tiss is inflammation of the thyroid.
It happens when the body's immune system makes antibodies that attack the thyroid. Two common types of thyroiditis are Hashimoto's disease and postpartum thyroiditis. Women with postpartum thyroiditis may feel very tired and moody. Postpartum thyroiditis typically happens in two phases, though not everyone with the condition goes through both phases: 4.
Your immune system may cause postpartum thyroiditis. If you have an autoimmune disease, like type 1 diabetes , your risk is higher. Treatment for postpartum thyroiditis depends on the phase of the disease and what symptoms you have.
For example, if you get symptoms of hyperthyroidism in the first phase, your treatment may include medicines to slow down the heart rate. In most women who have postpartum thyroiditis, the thyroid returns to normal within 12 to 18 months after symptoms start.
But if you have a history of postpartum thyroiditis, your risk is higher for developing permanent hypothyroidism within 5 to 10 years. A goiter is an unusually enlarged thyroid gland. It may happen only for a short time and may go away on its own without treatment. Or it could be a symptom of another thyroid disease that requires treatment. Usually, the only symptom of a goiter is a swelling in your neck. It may be large enough that you can see it or feel the lump with your hand.
A very large goiter can also cause a tight feeling in your throat, coughing, or problems swallowing or breathing. Your doctor will do tests to see if it is caused by another thyroid disease.
If you do need treatment, medicine should make the thyroid shrink back to near normal size. You may need surgery to take out part or most of the thyroid. A thyroid nodule NAHD-yool is a swelling in one section of the thyroid gland. The nodule may be solid or filled with fluid or blood.
You may have just one thyroid nodule or many. Thyroid nodules are common and affect four times as many women as men. An underactive thyroid gland hypothyroidism is where your thyroid gland does not produce enough hormones.
Common signs of an underactive thyroid are tiredness, weight gain and feeling depressed. An underactive thyroid can often be successfully treated by taking daily hormone tablets to replace the hormones your thyroid is not making.
There's no way of preventing an underactive thyroid. Most cases are caused either by the immune system attacking the thyroid gland and damaging it, or by damage to the thyroid that occurs during some treatments for an overactive thyroid or thyroid cancer. Symptoms of an underactive thyroid are often similar to those of other conditions, and they usually develop slowly, so you may not notice them for years. However, thanks to the addition of iodine to table salt, this deficiency is rare in the United States.
You can set off an overactive thyroid by taking too much thyroid hormone. In rare cases, your thyroid can become overactive if you eat too many foods that contain iodine, such as table salt, fish, and seaweed. Though you may not be able to prevent thyroid disease, you can prevent its complications by getting diagnosed right away and following the treatment your doctor prescribes. The superior thyroid artery is located within the neck. The inferior thyroid vein may refer to any of the two, three or four veins that make up the venous plexus, an intricate system of interconnected veins….
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Medically reviewed by Daniel Murrell, M. Thyroid nodules. Common thyroid conditions in children. Preventing thyroid dysfunction. Inferior thyroid vein. Thyroid gland.
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