Thyroid Gland Treatment in India - Symptoms and Procedure

The thyroid is one of the human body's most important endocrine glands that secret several hormones. The gland is situated on the neck. In front of the windpipe, the gland is located on your neck, and in the normal size, you can not feel them. There are two lobes of the gland that are connected by a bridge. The gland is filled with blood vessels, and nerves also pass through the gland.

The gland secretes many hormones, and collectively they are called thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones regulate body temperature and affect growth, metabolism, and development. During childhood, sufficient thyroid hormones are important in brain development. But T4 and T3 are most important in the human body.

When thyroid glands do not develop properly, they can not function adequately and create many problems. As hormones are important in growth and development, any abnormality in the gland affects normal growth in children and shows an abnormality in adults.

Structure of Thyroid Gland

The gland is situated in front of the windpipe and below the larynx( voice box). Two lobes of the gland, each present on either side of the windpipe and connected by a bridge. The gland is 2 inches in size.

Thyroid Symptoms

Thyroid gland secrets important hormones that play vital roles in your body. When the gland secretes more or fewer hormones, many problems arise and show different symptoms in your body. However, you can also experience most of the symptoms of other physiological problems. So, without testing, you can not be sure whether the problem is thyroid-related or not.

Generally, the gland produces hormones that mostly regulate the body's metabolism. So, the gland produces abnormal amounts of hormones, either excessive or less. The body shows some symptoms like weight loss, hoarse voice, weight gain, irritability, and lots more.

What are the Symptoms of the Thyroid Gland?

The thyroid gland produces important metabolism regulation-related hormones, and changes in their production disrupt the body's metabolism. Whether your glands produce more or less, both situations cause damage to the body and have different symptoms.

Besides general symptoms, prolonged problems in the gland produce several serious diseases like Goiter, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, thyroid nodules, and Grave's disease.

Hyperthyroidism: in this condition, your glands become overactive and produce excessive hormones, which speed up your body's functions. The condition is mostly diagnosed in women rather than men.

One of the major causes is Grave's disease, for hyperthyroidism in around 70% of cases. Another reason is the production of toxic or excessive nodules on your thyroid gland that can cause the production of extra hormones.

Besides, hyperthyroidism can also happen for other reasons like:

• Thyroid gland inflammation
• An excessive amount of iodine intake
• Noncancerous tumor in the pituitary gland

Symptoms when the gland produces an excess hormone

• You can have anxiety problems, hypertension, feeling irritation all the time.
• The thyroid gland becomes enlarged, and you can have Goiter.
• You will get trouble sleeping
• Presence of muscle weakness along with tremors.
• You will become heat sensitive.
• You can experience vision problems and eye irritation.
• Increasing heart rate
• Too much sweating
• Skin becomes thin
• Hair and nails become brittle
• Rapid weight loss
• Increased appetite

Hypothyroidism: in this situation, your thyroid gland can not produce enough hormones, and your body's function becomes slow.

The general cause of hypothyroidism is Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Other than that, if you remove the thyroid gland from surgery, damage to the gland from radiation also causes hypothyroidism. Apart from those reasons, some other reasons also cause the situation of the hormonal problem like:

• Thyroiditis
• If someone has been born with the condition, congenital hypothyroidism
• Iodine deficiency
• Abnormalities in the pituitary or hypothalamus gland
• Several medications can cause the disease, like heart, bipolar disorder, and cancer.
• If you have other health conditions like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and celiac disease, you also become more prone to hypothyroidism.

Symptoms when they Produce Less Hormone

• Feeling tired all the time and often experiencing fatigue.
• Your hair will become dry and coarse.
• Your voice quality will change and will become hoarse.
• You will often forget about everyday things.
• You will become intolerant to cold conditions.
• Depression
• Heart rate becomes slow
• You may also face fertility problems

Thyroid treatment

First, doctors will run some tests to diagnose the thyroid condition in your body and then will provide medications for that. After seeing the result of your tests, he can ensure whether you have hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism problems. Following the diagnosis, he will provide you with medications.

1. Hyperthyroidism

Generally, doctors prescribe a blood test where they can see the T4 and TSH amount in your blood. Sometimes they also conduct imaging tests and physical exams.

Depending upon the level of your hyperthyroidism condition, your doctor can provide various treatment procedures. In hyperthyroidism treatment, the doctor destroys the gland's activity in producing more hormones or blocks the pathway of excessive hormones. Doctors can use the following treatment methods:

2. Antithyroid Medication

Doctors can give you antithyroid drugs which reduce the thyroid gland's capacity to produce hormones. Thus hormone production will decrease, and your symptoms will also reduce. For example, Tapazole is an antithyroid hormone medicine.

3. Radioiodine Therapy

Thyroid requires iodine to make hormones but radioactive iodine damages thyroid cells. So, medical professionals advise consuming tablets or syrups containing radioactive iodine. As you consume the medicine, the thyroid gland will absorb radioactive iodine, and then that iodine will damage your gland's cells. Therefore they can not make hormones, and you will be relieved from symptoms. However, the procedure is not safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

4. Beta-blockers

Beta-blockers don't affect the thyroid gland and alter its hormone production but help to reduce the symptoms.

5. Surgery

If medicines can not control your thyroid production level, doctors may suggest surgery. The doctor will remove the gland, which will permanently solve your problems related to the thyroid. However, you would always need to take thyroid supplements in the future.

When you take radioiodine therapy, that will also severely damage your thyroid gland. So, you may need to take thyroid supplements after the treatment.

6. Hypothyroidism

Doctors will detect hypothyroidism by performing blood tests and imaging tests. In your blood test report, if the doctor notices a low amount of T4 but a high level of TSH, you suffer from hypothyroidism. The report also shows that your pituitary produces a high level of TSH to excite your thyroid gland to produce more T4.

Sometimes doctors also give ultrasonography tests to check the thyroid gland and its function.

In the case of hypothyroidism, the only effective treatment is thyroid supplement medicine. The artificial hormone pills add the deficient thyroid hormone level into the body. But when you use the medication, you must be careful about the dosage because excessive amounts will generate hyperthyroidism. For example, levothyroxine is a popular drug that doctors prescribe to treat hypothyroidism. Pregnant women with hypothyroidism may need extra doses during pregnancy.

Symptoms of an Underactive Thyroid

When the thyroid gland is unable to produce enough hormones or can not produce certain hormones, then the condition is called underactive thyroid or hypothyroidism. In this situation, your body shows some common symptoms, which you can see in other diseases.  

However, if you can not treat hypothyroidism, you can get other health problems in the future, like heart disease, obesity, and so on.

Common symptoms:

• Fatigue
• You become too much sensitive to cold
• Decrease amount of heart rate
• Weight gain
• Dry skin
• Puffy face
• Your voice becomes hoarse
• Depression
• Weak memory

You can notice the symptoms mentioned above in adults. But infants can also have the problem and, in that case, show different symptoms like:

• Presence of large, protruding tongue.
• Have problems in breathing
• Hoarse crying

As they age, they get problems with feeding and have poor development.

Children and teens also represent the same symptoms as adults, but in addition to those, they also show other symptoms like :

• Due to poor growth, their stature remains short
• Their permanent teeth take more time to develop
• Late puberty
• Mental development is poor

Thyroid Symptoms in Women

As hormones can make or break a womens' mood, so do thyroid symptoms are prominent in women. Here is a list of symptoms women can notice.

• Hypothyroidism will cause you to gain weight, while in hyperthyroidism, you will lose weight.
• A low thyroid hormone will slow your body's function and cause low blood pressure. In contrast, hyperthyroidism will increase your blood pressure.
• In the case of hypothyroidism, you can have depression, while in hyperthyroidism, you will be more likely to have anxiety, overthinking, and irritation issues.
• Menstrual cycles are also affected by thyroid hormones. In hypothyroidism, you will see a heavy and irregular flow. You can also see a nonregular cycle in hyperthyroidism, which can sometimes stop.

Thyroid Symptoms in Men

Men can also face problems related to thyroid, though the percentage is less than for women. Here is a list of common symptoms that men face:

In the case of hypothyroidism, men show symptoms like:

• Sensitive to cold
• Constipation
• Depression
• Sore muscle
• Enlargement of the thyroid gland

In the case of hyperthyroidism, they have symptoms like:

• Irregular heartbeat
• Heart palpitation
• Become sensitive to heat
• Excessive sweating

Can Hypothyroidism be Cured?

Hypothyroidism is a condition of your body when the thyroid gland produces insufficient hormones. In middle-aged women, the condition mainly appears due to Hashimoto's thyroiditis, an autoimmune disorder. The condition can not go away permanently, but you can remain under control. Thyroid supplement medicines can make the situation better and reduce the symptoms.

However, if a woman suffering from that disease is diagnosed early, she can live long to control the disease with proper medications.

What is the Thyroid Gland?

The thyroid gland is an important endocrine gland that produces hormones that regulate many physical functions. The gland looks like a butterfly and is situated in front of the neck, having two lobes on each side of the neck.

Thyroid Gland Causes

Many factors can cause problems in your thyroid gland. Here are some of them:

• Lodine deficiency
• Autoimmune diseases like Grave's disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
• Inflammation in the gland
• Cancer
• Genetic disorders

Bottom line

The thyroid plays a vital role in metabolism and growth. Any problems in the thyroid hormones can generate several other diseases like obesity, heart problems, and so on. But with proper treatment, you can control the disease and live a long, normal life.

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