Interesting FAQs about Thyroid..

What is thyroid?

Thyroid is a butterfly shaped organ (or gland) located in the front of the neck, just below the voice box. Like the liver, heart, kidney and brain, thyroid has a specific function and role to play. In a normal adult the thyroid weighs 15 to 25 grams. It is known that it starts functioning even before birth! Thyroid secretes two metabolically very important hormones, called T3 and T4 that are vital for physical and mental growth.


What are thyroid hormones?

The word hormone is derived from a Greek term meaning "To excite" or "To spur on". Hormones are chemical messengers that alter the activities of cells and tissues. Hormones regulate many important body processes and functions, including growth, reproduction, and metabolism. Various glands produce specific hormones, which controls specific events in the body. Thyroid gland secretes 2 hormones called T3 and T4 and these two hormones are required by every organ, every tissue and every cell in the body at every minute. They control various important metabolic activities including energy productions and growth and development.

What is the role of Iodine in Thyroid functioning?

Iodine, a trace mineral, is required by the body for the synthesis of the thyroid hormones. T4 contains 4 iodine atoms. When one of the iodine atoms is stripped off of T4, it becomes T3, with 3 iodine atoms remaining. In case of Iodine deficiency, the human body is unable to synthesize these hormones. Goiter, or enlargement of the thyroid gland, is usually the earliest symptom of iodine deficiency. The enlargement of the thyroid results from over stimulation of the thyroid gland by thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), as the body attempts to produce thyroid hormones despite the lack of available iodine.

What is the relation between weight and thyroid?

What we eat should be converted into energy for a normal and healthy life. In hypothyroidism, due to paucity of the hormones, the energy conversion is reduced. Hence, fat accumulation and weight increase are very common in hypothyroid patients. In hyperthyroidism, the hormones are in excess. So they burnout the energy more than what is required, resulting in heavy loss of weight. Thus weight and stamina are two criteria in thyroid evaluation.

What Importance does thyroid function have during pregnancy?

During pregnancy, the requirement of thyroid hormones is increased (for the child also) and hence a thyroid patient should be monitored closely in the first and second tri semester. Both the mother and foetus require optimum hormone levels. It is known that the deficiency of thyroid hormones can cause irreversible damages to both the physical and mental growth of the child. Hence it is recommended that a good endocrinologist is consulted.

What are the types of Thyroid Disorders?


There are basically two types of thyroid disorders:
-Goiter , which is an abnormal size and structure of the thyroid gland. The goiter may not have any symptoms and an associated disorder.
- Thyroid Dysfunction, which is the under functioning
( hypothyroidism ) or over functioning ( hyperthyroidism ) of the thyroid gland. this may happen without a goiter.

What are the symptoms of thyroid disorders?

Hyperthyroidism - Signs and Symptoms
Heat intolerance
Nervousness
Insomnia
Breathlessness
Increased Bowel movements
Light or absence of menstrual periods
Palpitations
Fatigue
Fast heartbeat rate
Trembling hands
Weight loss
Weakness
Staring gaze

What other diseases are associated with thyroid dysfunction?

Patients having autoimmune disorders may have more than one organ affected. With chronic thyroiditis, there is a higher incidence of other autoimmune diseases such as:

* Vitiligo
* Rheumatoid Arthritis
* Addison's Disease
* Diabetese Mellitus
* Pernicious anaemia

What is Grave's disease?

Grave's disease, an autoimmune disorder is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism. Instead of TSH, antibodies against the TSH receptors bind to and stimulate the thyroid gland , leading to continuous and uncontrolled production of thyroid hormones. These patients are likely to have a diffuse goiter, "Protrusion of eyes" (exophthalamos). Some patients have enlarged spleen and neck nodes

How can a laboratory help in diagnosis of thyroid function?

The most effective and efficient way to diagnose the thyroid dysfunctions is by measuring FT3, FT4 and TSH blood levels These tests are done with either the Nobel prize Winning Technology called RIA or with a fully automated technology called CLIA These tests cannot be conducted in any laboratory because it required huge infrastructure and investments.

Are these tests very costly?

More than 100 good laboratories in India are doing these tests with good quality, but majority of them charge rates ranging from Rs.500 to Rs.1,200 for the three investigations namely FT3, FT4 and TSH. However under the new concept of specialization, networking and blending the breakthrough in laboratory technologies and with the advent of information technology, the most reliable Thyroid diagnosis service is available for Rs.200 to Rs.300* in any part of the country. The major contribution in such a breakthrough is from Thyrocare, the world's largest thyroid testing laboratory.

What is thyroid scanning?

There are many tests available to understand various diseases of thyroid. However, majority of the functional thyroid disorders are identified using a simple blood test called "T3 T4 TSH". This test estimates the levels of three hormones in blood namely T3 & T4, both thyroid hormones and TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) stimulates or controls the activity of Thyroid gland.

Once the levels of these hormones are known from the laboratory tests, doctors can easily classify if there is a functional disorder into hypo or hypothyroidism. Usually, in hypothyroidism the levels of T3 and T4 are below normal and that of TSH is above normal. In case of hyperthyroidism, the levels of T3 and T4 are above normal and that of TSH will be very low.

How thyroid testing is done?

Like any other organ, Thyroid gland also is known to harbour cancer. However once diagnosed the gland is removed and radio iodine treatment is given it will ensure that the patient is completely safe and free of cancer. It is known that Thyroid Cancer is one of the safest cancer.

Where can I find more info on Thyroid?

There are lot of Information on thyroid over this website. You can use the internal search to find out more. Some useful weblinks for thyroid:

thyroid.about.com
thyroid.miningco.com
thyroid-info.com
btf-thyroid.org
nap.edu