Skip to main content

Thyroid Diseases - Brief Understandable Introduction.

thyroid-diseases,hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism

Thyroid diseases are common nowadays. These are not rare diseases anymore.

What is Thyroid?
Thyroid is a gland situated bellow the Adam's apple. It releases hormones called T3 (tri-iodothyronine) and T4 (tetra-iodothyronine or thyroxine).

Function of T3 and T4: (briefly described)
T3 and T4 are metabolism enhancers, they increase the basal metabolism  rate, heat production, heart rate, sweating and their normal levels are necessary to maintain a balance of catabolism (breakdown process in order to release energy) and anabolism (production of new molecules, proteins or other substances) of tissues.

In normal persons the blood level of T3 and T4 is under  the control of TSH ( thyroid stimulating hormone, released by brain  pituitary). So if T3 or T4 concentration increases in blood TSH decreases and thyroid decreases their production.
but sometimes this control is lost due to
disease in the thyroid or disease in pituitary (brain origin) and these condition results in one of the two conditions.
ie. Hyperthyroidism or Hypothyroidism.


Hyperthyroidism (Grave's Disease)

In Graves disease, there is an increase in Thyroid secretions i.e T3 and T4. This is an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune means that some antibodies that are produced by our own body start to stimulate the thyroid gland and thyroid gland starts producing more thyroxine. These antibodies bind to site where TSH normally binds to stimulate the thyroxine production.

Symptoms Of Hyperthyroidism includes; increase sweating, progressive weight loss, blackening of skin color, increase in appetite, protruding of eye (exophathalmous), weakness, restlessness, increase in heart rate, tremors.

Treatment: Treatment is either surgical or medical: Surgical treatment includes removal of a part of thyroid to decrease its secretions, and medical treatment includes administration of antithyroid drugs.
My father also suffers hyperthyroidism and treated with antithyroid drugs and he is fine now.


Hypothyroidism:

it is reverse of hyperthyroidism. In hypothyroidism the concentration of T3 and T4 decreases.

symptoms:  weight gain, thick skin, generalized non-pitting edema, dizziness, puffiness of the face, weakness, low metabolism, decrease  appetite, lazy habits.

Treatments: Exogenous Thyroxine is given in this condition.Thyroxine is available in tablet form. Treatment of cause is necessary if it lies outside thyroid e.g pituitary.


How can we know either disease lies in Thyroid or Brain.


By performing Thyroid function Test. by performing it we will have the concentrations of T3 T4 and TSH.

  1. If T3 and T4 levels are decreased and TSH level is increased it means it is hypothyroidism and disease lies in Thyroid.
  2. If T3 and T4 levels are high and TSH level is low it means it is hyperthyroidism and disease lies in again in Thyroid.
  3. If T3, T4 and TSH all levels are low it is hypothyroidism because of abnormality in pituitary (Brain origin)
  4. If T3, T4 and TSH levels are high it means it is hyperthyroidism and cause lies in pituitary (i.e brain origin)

Popular posts from this blog

Human Parasites, Types of Parasites, and Classification

Parasite: A parasite is a living organism which gets nutrition and protection from another organism where it lives. Parasites enter into the human body through mouth, skin and genitalia. In this article, we will generally discuss the types and classification of parasites. It is important from an academic point of view. Those parasites are harmful, which derives their nutrition and other benefits from the host and host get nothing in return but suffers from some injury. Types of Parasites Ecto-parasite: An ectoparasite lives outside on the surface of the body of the host. Endo-parasite: An endo-parasite lives inside the body of the host, it lives in the blood, tissues, body cavities, digestive tract or other organs. Temporary parasite: A temporary parasite visits its host for a short period of time. Permanent parasite: Permanent parasite lives its whole life in the host. Facultative parasite: A facultative parasite can live both independently and dependently. It lives in the...

IELTS or OET - Reviews - Personal Experience - Which to Choose - IETLS vs OET

OET and IELTS both are used to assess the knowledge of English Language. The basic difference between the above two is this, IETLS is a more generalized English language assessment test, on the other hand, OET is profession specific. For example, if you are a doctor, the content of the test will be related to your occupation. Because of this, the OET is being chosen by many healthcare professional instead of IELTS. Both tests have the same sub-categories, that is listening, speaking, writing and reading. Lets us discuss the differences one by one. TEST OET IELTS OET Compared to IELTS is ………. (Author’s opinion) Speaking You will need to do two role plays. You will be given a situation and asked to counsel the patient about a disease and treatment or break the bad news. It has 3 parts, first is an introduction and general question, In the second part you will be provided with a topic to speak for 2 minutes. In the 3rd part, you will b...