Hyperthyroidism-Details About This Condition

by James Ind consultant

Hyperthyroidism-Details About This Condition

Introduction

Hyperthyroidism or overactive thyroid refers to a condition where the thyroid glands of a person's body generate too much thyroid hormone. Talking about thyroid, it stands for a small gland located on the front side of the neck and has a butterfly-type shape. Thyroid has a function to release hormones that manage the metabolism, weight, breathing, heart rate, and body temperature along with various functions of the body. With the help of it, you would have understood how important place thyroid contains in our body. The presence of hyperthyroidism seems to be present in women more than men. It is more likely to settle when a person reaches the age of 60.

Hyperthyroidism Causes

The first cause by which hyperthyroidism can take place is a condition called Graves's disease. It is also considered as one of the common causes of hyperthyroidism and stands as an autoimmune disorder. With this disease, the immune system attacks the thyroid and causes it to produce too much hormone. Try to bring one thing to mind that the thyroid gland of a person's body can create a massive impact on its health. It has been said that every feature of our metabolism is regulated by thyroid hormones. Triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) are two of the major hormones that are developed by a thyroid gland that influence every cell of the body. Both of them tend to maintain the rate at which a person's body uses fats and carbohydrates which helps to influence the heart rate, regular protein production, and control body temperature.

Thyroid Nodules

Talking about thyroid nodules, they are said to be the lumps in the thyroid. They prove to be common and non-cancerous. However, if there is a presence of one or more nodules, it can become overactive due to which production of too much thyroid hormone can exist. Our body requires the intake of iodine in many cases. For that, there are some medicines which contains the presence of too much iodine in them. The thyroid of our body put iodine into operation to make thyroid hormone. The amount of iodine consumed by a person affects the amount of thyroid hormone our thyroid makes. In some people who take a large amount of iodine, there might be possibilities of causing the thyroid to develop too much thyroid hormone.

Hyperthyroidism Symptoms

Hyperthyroidism is such a condition where symptoms vary among people to people. There can be a presence of mild hyperthyroidism where people aren't often aware as they don't produce any symptoms. Most symptoms have a relation with enhancing the metabolic rate. A presence of swelling in the neck can be there caused due to enlarged thyroid gland or goiter. There might be a feeling of nervousness, fatigue, oversensitivity to heat, trembling hands and shakiness, accelerated heartbeat and sometimes with palpitations.

Some other symptoms contain problems in breathing and sleeping, sudden weight loss or gain, menstrual problems in women light lighter periods or absence in periods, tiredness, muscle weakness, irritability and decreased concentration, diarrhea, infertility and loss of interest in sex, and itchy skin with itchy swelling, etc.

Hyperthyroidism Treatment

There is a need to treat hyperthyroidism as if it is left untreated, there can be a presence of some serious impact on the bodily functions including muscles, fertility, bones, heart and menstrual cycle. Those who are pregnant and suffering from hyperthyroidism, there are chances of some health problems in both the mother and baby. There is a requirement of choosing an appropriate treatment in the case of hyperthyroidism and that will be influenced by the age of a person, the type and severity of hyperthyroidism faced by them with some medical condition which might be affecting their health.

If someone is facing this kind of a problem, then consulting with an endocrinologist can be a good idea especially the one who is an experienced professional in treating cases regarding this type of a problem. Some antithyroid medications are available, so if the doctor wishes to treat by blocking the ability of thyroid glands to make new thyroid hormones, they might be prescribed. One more thing that can be used is to damage or destroy the cells of the thyroid that creates thyroid hormones. Along with that, there are some surgical procedures applied to remove all or most of the thyroid glands. But you need to discuss the problem with your doctor first. According to the condition, he will be able to tell the option that can be applied. Try to have knowledge regarding problems like hyperthyroidism.