Last Updated on November 30, 2023 by Asfa Rasheed
On average 20 million Americans have a thyroid disease. When individuals contract a thyroid disease their weight can begin to fluctuate. Your thyroid controls your body’s metabolism and affects your overall health.
Keep reading to learn more about thyroid disorders and thyroid conditions to look out for.
What Are Thyroid Conditions?
Thyroid disorders adversely your optimal health. These conditions can either be from over or under activity. The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland located beneath the windpipe.
This gland plays an important role in the regulation of the body’s metabolic processes. Different disorders adversely affect the thyroid’s structure and function in different ways.
Seek Medical Help
You can look out for early warning signs of thyroid problems. Some early signs of detection include gastrointestinal issues, sudden fluctuations in weight, and sensitivity to temperature changes.
When you visit an endocrinologist your doctor will do a physical exam. Your doctor may even request you perform blood tests to test for your active levels of a thyroid hormone. You can treat your conditions by connecting with a thyroid clinic.
Hypothyroidism
When you have hypothyroidism, the gland produces an insufficient amount of the thyroid hormone. This disease typically causes drastic weight gain. Symptoms of hypothyroidism include fatigue, mental fogginess, constipation, depression, muscle aches, fluid retention, and excessive menstrual bleeding for women.
Hyperthyroidism
When you have hyperthyroidism, the gland produces an excess amount of the thyroid hormone. This disease causes sudden weight loss and possibly a rapid or irregular heartbeat. Symptoms of this disease include tremors, nervousness, rapid heart rate, fatigue, feverishness, and inability to concentrate.
Goiter
The term goiter refers to the enlargement of your thyroid gland. This medical condition can be paired with regular thyroid function, hyperthyroidism, or hypothyroidism.
Thyroid Nodules
Nodes are bumps on your thyroid. These lumps can come with cysts, tumors, or masses of cancer. These nodules can vary in size and are more of a symptom than the disease itself.
Thyroid Cancer
The chance of recovery can greatly vary based on the stage at which a patient is diagnosed. The five-year survival rate for thyroid cancer is 98%. That is because this disease is usually caught early on.
Cancer is a disease that causes cells to divide and spread into surrounding tissues. Cancer is the changing of DNA as growths are formed. The direct symptoms of thyroid cancer depend on the specific cell type that is under attack.
In the United States 12,000 men and 33,000 women are diagnosed with thyroid cancer each year. Doctors cite genetic conditions and radiation as possible causes for thyroid cancer.
Monitor Your Health
Having an overactive thyroid or underactive thyroid can drastically affect your day to day routine. Different thyroid conditions are more curable than others. By monitoring your health more closely you can be alerted of any symptoms early on.
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