Thyroid

"If you believe the doctors, nothing is wholesome; if you believe the theologians, nothing is innocent; if you believe the military, nothing is safe"-Richard Cecil

I interrupt my series on the 7 Warning signs to look at a body part I know little about, the thyroid. What is it? What does it do? My wife is having her Thyroid examined so this is a good time for me to learn more about this mystery gland.

It's estimated that 59 million Americans have a thyroid problem, but most don't know it. The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland located just below the Adam’s apple in the neck that produces hormones that speed up or slow down your body’s metabolism. It can affect weight gain, mental mood, energy level, hair growth, skin town, muscles & joints, bowels, menstruation, and more. There are two common problems:
Hypothyroidism – the thyroid does not secrete enough hormones
Hyperthyroidism - the thyroid secretes too much

Symptoms

1. Muscle & Joint Pain with a weakness for Carpal Tunnel
2. Neck Discomfort and Enlargement, Hoarse Voice, Goiter
3. Oddly both hypo and hyper thyroidism can lead to hair loss.
4. Hypothyroidism thickens the skin; hyperthyroidism thins the skin and makes it fragile.
5. Bowels: Hypo->Constipation; Hyper->Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
6. Fertility: Hypo->heavy or frequent periods; Hyper->light or infrequent periods
7. Cholesterol: High with Hypo; Low with Hyper
8. Blood pressure: hyperthyroidism can speed up the heart and raise blood pressure
9. Mood: Hypo->Depression; Hyper->Anxiety
10. Weight: Hypo->Gain; Hyper->Lose
11. Sleep: Both extremes can leave you fatigued. Hyper can cause insomnia.
12. Body Temperature: Hypo->sensitive to cold; Hyper->sensitive to heat
13. Eyes: Hypo->puffiness around the eyes, Hyper->bulging or “bug” eyes

As I read more about the thyroid I see that it is not the “master regulator” as some sites claim. It is the factory that produces regulating chemicals but the role of regulator goes to the pituitary gland, a small gland at the base of the brain that monitors hormones in the blood and instructs the thyroid to produce more or less. So thyroid problems could be the fault of bad instructions from the pituitary or by a rebellious thyroid ignoring the instructions. There is also Grave’s disease where the thyroid is attacked by antibodies and overproduces in response.

EMedicineHealth.com describes pregnancy masking thyroid problems that is worth reading if applicable to you.

Bottom Line

What can be done for thyroid problems?

1. Medicine – you can take artificial hormones if under producing or thyroid blockers if over producing.

2. For Hyperthyroidism that does not respond to medicine, one option is killing part or the entire thyroid to reduce/stop hormone production through surgical removal or poisoning with radioactive iodine (the thyroid loves iodine and soaks it up).

Resources
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/thyroid_problems/article_em.htm
http://thyroid.about.com/cs/basics_starthere/a/10signs.htm