Although the thyroid is small, it plays a mighty role in your health.
While your thyroid might only be a small, butterfly-shaped gland located at the base of your neck, it can surely make its presence known when it doesn’t act like it should.
The team at UAB UAB Medical West wants to educate you more on the thyroid and how it can affect your health if the proper treatment plan isn’t given to help improve your quality of life.
What Is Your Thyroid?
The purpose of your thyroid is to produce hormones that help to regulate a number of functions within your body, such as:
-
Brain development
- Bone maintenance
- Mood
- Metabolic rate
- Heart function
- Digestive function
- Muscle control
Because your thyroid plays an important role in a number of areas of your overall health, when not working right, it can send your health off track—and fast. Therefore, it is important to recognize the symptoms of thyroid disease so that you can seek medical attention sooner rather than later.
What Are the Symptoms of Thyroid Disease?
There are two main forms of thyroid disease, which are hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. They each come with their own set of symptoms.
For example, when you suffer from hypothyroidism, symptoms can include:
- Brittle hair and nails
- Depression
- Difficulty losing weight
- Fatigue
- Hard time thinking clearly
- Infertility
- Low libido
- Muscle and joint pain
- Thinning hair
- Weight gain
On the other hand, if hyperthyroidism is present, you will experience:
-
Anxiety
- Excessive sweating
- Heart palpitations
- Inability to gain weight
- Insomnia
- Panic attacks
- Shortness of breath
- Sudden weight loss
Either way, it is important to seek medical treatment so that you can get your thyroid levels back to where they need to be in order to get you feeling your best.
Help for Thyroid Disease Is Right Here, Close to Home!
Fortunately, according to the American Thyroid Association, all thyroid diseases can be treated to help the thyroid to return to normal function. However, depending on the type of thyroid disease diagnosed, you might never fully be cured.
For instance, if you are one of the 52,070 new cases of thyroid cancer diagnosed this year, the cancer can be cured, but you will always need to be on some type of thyroid replacement hormone to ensure thyroid levels are properly maintained.
Because all forms of thyroid disease need to be treated in a certain way, such as medication, surgery, or other procedures, it is important to speak to a highly-trained physician who can give you the proper diagnosis and treatment plan for your thyroid condition.
Do you feel like you might be experiences the symptoms associated with thyroid disease? Contact the team at UAB Medical West today to schedule an appointment to discuss your treatment options when it comes to your thyroid issues.