Neurological Medicine and The Headache Care Center

Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism is a reduced level of thyroid hormone (thyroxine). Hypothyroidism is characterized by a variety of symptoms, the most common ones are: fatigue, weight gain, constipation, pain, dry skin, dry and brittle hair, and feeling cold. Hypothyroidism Treatment usually consists in daily intake of drugs that compensate for the lack of thyroxine. Hypothyroidism is treatable and after a course of treatment of hypothyroidism symptoms usually disappear.

What is hypothyroidism?

Thyroxine - a hormone produced by the thyroid gland, which is located in the front of the neck. The main function of thyroxine - to maintain normal metabolism (metabolism). The hormone thyroxine is spread over all the cells and tissues of the body via blood circulation.

Hypothyroidism means that not enough active thyroid gland does not secrete enough thyroxine. As a result of hypothyroidism is slowing down many functions of the organism, ie the metabolism slows down too.

Conversely, if too much is secreted hyperthyroidism thyroxine. As a result, the metabolism is accelerated.

Symptoms of hypothyroidism

The main symptoms are caused by the low level of thyroxine. In fact, there is a slowing of metabolic processes in the body. This may not manifest symptoms.

Most often these symptoms develop hypothyroidism: fatigue, weight gain, constipation, muscle pain, feeling cold, dry skin, lifeless hair, urine retention, slower mental reactions and depression. synthroid online Less common symptoms are: deep voice (due to swelling of the vocal cords), irregular or heavy menstruation in women, infertility, decreased sexual desire, carpal tunnel syndrome (which causes pain and numbness of the hands), and loss of memory and disorientation in the elderly.

What complications can have hypothyroidism?

In the absence of proper treatment, you put yourself at risk of developing heart failure.
Due to the low level of thyroxine increases the content of blood lipids (cholesterol, etc.).
If you are pregnant, there is a risk of complications such as pre-eclampsia (toxemia of late pregnancy), anemia, premature birth, low birth weight, stillbirth, and severe bleeding after childbirth.
Heavy rare complication of hypothyroidism and is hypothyroid coma.
However, in the case of treatment of a favorable prognosi.
In the case of the start of treatment usually disappear symptoms of the disease and the development of any complications are unlikely.

What causes hypothyroidism?

Autoimmune thyroiditis - a common cause of hypothyroidism.Normally, the immune system produces antibodies to fight the bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms. In the case of autoimmune disease, the immune system produces antibodies against some of your body's tissues.

During autoimmune hypothyroidism, your body begins to produce antibodies that act against the thyroid tissue, causing disrupted its function. In this case, the thyroid gland is not able to secrete enough thyroxine that gradually leads to hypothyroidism. It is believed that some mechanism causes the immune system to produce antibodies against the thyroid gland, but the nature of this mechanism is unknown.

Autoimmune thyroiditis is most common in people with the following clinical prerequisites:

• Hypothyroidism caused by autoimmune thyroiditis, a family history
• Down's Syndrome. Hypothyroidism occurs in 1 of 3 patients with Down syndrome three under the age of 25 years. People with Down syndrome are not the easiest to observe the development of symptoms of hypothyroidism. Therefore, some doctors recommend that all patients with Down syndrome blood tests to identify hypothyroidism annually
• Turner syndrome. In this case, patients are also encouraged to undergo annual screening with a blood test
• Enlarged thyroid gland (goiter diffuse)
• Graves' disease in the anamnesis (medical history) or hypothyroidism after birth
• Other autoimmune diseases in a personal or family history. For example, vitiligo, pernicious anemia, Addison's disease, the first type of diabetes, premature ovarian failure, celiac disease, Sjogren's syndrome
• Some patients with autoimmune thyroiditis also develop abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland (goiter). Autoimmune thyroiditis with goiter is called Hashimoto's thyroiditis. In patients with autoimmune thyroiditis is also the risk of developing other autoimmune diseases such as vitiligo, pernicious anemia, etc.

There is no single correct and reliable way to prevent hypothyroidism. But doctors believe that it is important that our food was full, rich in vitamins, minerals and iodine. In regions where there is a lack of natural iodine, it is recommended to add iodized salt instead of regular. Compensate for the lack of iodine in seafood may Environment: shrimp, crab, mussels, clams, seaweed ... Seafood to eat several times a week.