Thyroid Disorders

Introduction

Common Facts

Some common facts related to thyroid are as follows:

Approximately 12 percent of Americans can develop any form of thyroid disorder during their life.

60 percent of the people who have thyroid are not even aware of their condition.

Thyroid acts as a thermostat in the human body.

In certain forms of thyroid disorders, the flow of blood in thyrois can increase up to 100 folds.

The thyroid gland is included in the list of those glands which play a significant role in regulating and controlling the body. Thyroid gland secretes a numberof hormones, each controlling a different body function ranging from the body metabolisms to the changes occurring in a person's moods.

The most common disorders, which occur as a result of malfunctioning of the thyroid gland, are known as thyroid disorders. The thyroid disorders include different conditions and diseases such as, thyroid nodule, Grave's disease, defects in the thyroid gland by birth and the most fatal of all the thyroid disorders is thyroid cancer. These disorders cause the thyroid gland to become over or underactive, the said conditions are known as hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism respectively.

The most common diseases caused by hyperthyroidism include Grave's Disease and thyroid nodules. In these diseases, the thyroid gland starts producing the thyroid hormone in excess, which leads to quick body metabolism creating conditions of anxiety, nervousness and hypertension. On the other hand, the most common diseases caused by hypothyroidism include birth defects and Hashimoto's thyroiditis in which the thyroid gland slows down the production of thyroid hormone, leading to slow body metabolism and creating conditions like fatigue, depression and weight gain.

Prevalence

On a more serious note, the prevalence of thyroid disorders is more common in men as compared to women. According to the statistics of US National Cancer Institute of 2007, a total of 338,000 females suffer from thyroid cancer, as compared to men (the statistics identifying only 96,000 men suffering from thyroid cancer). Moreover, people with a family history of thyroid diseases are at a higher risk to suffer from the disease, as compared to people who do not have any family history (SEEE, pp. 138-154.).

One more thing, which is noteworthy, is that thyroid disorders are usually misdiagnosed as conditions of tiredness, forgetfulness or fatigue. This happens because the symptoms of thyroid disorders are similar to the symptoms of these conditions; therefore, the doctor should recommend a blood test or a test for level of thyroid ...