Thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland situated in front of the neck, normally not visible unless in a very thin individual. The function of the thyroid gland is to produce thyroid hormone.
The thyroid gland is controlled by another gland below the brain called as the pituitary, which is the “master” endocrine gland.
The pituitary produces TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) which stimulates the thyroid gland to produce the thyroid hormones. This loop maintains the balance.
Thyroid hormone has a number of effects on body’s function. The main one being to control the metabolic rate, which includes basal metabolic rate (BMR), i.e., the amount of energy used by the body to maintain vital processes such as breathing, circulation and digestion.
Too much thyroid hormone makes the body to work too fast, whereas too little allows the body to slow down.
Thyroid hormone also has an important function of being involved in the maturation of the brain and physical growth in babies both before and after birth. Deficiency of thyroid hormone certainly can affect height in the growing children.
Under-active thyroid – Thyroid gland is unable to provide normal amount of thyroid hormone.
Over-active thyroid. If the gland produces more thyroid hormone than normal, it is called over-active thyroid.
HYPO – Underactive: HYPER – Overactive
| Overactive - Hyperthyroidism | Underactive - Hypothyroidism |
|---|---|
| - Irritable/ Excitable - Weight loss/ Weakness - Diarrhoea - Rapid heart rate - Feeling too warm - Hyperactivity in children | - Slow/ Sleepy - Weight gain/ Fluid retention - Dry skin/ Hair loss - Constipation/ Slow heart rate Feeling too cold Poor growth in children |
Family history of thyroid is the main risk factor. If you have a family history and you have symptoms suggestive of under- or overactive thyroid, it is worth seeing your doctor for a physical examination and blood test. Remember thyroid disease is 10 times more common in women than in men.
Enlargement of the thyroid gland is called a goitre. As such this does not mean much, we need to find why the gland is big and how is it working.
If we suspect that something can be wrong, we may go ahead with a small biopsy, called FNAC (fine needle aspiration cytology), to see how the cells look under the microscope.
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