While people often consider thyroid to be a disease in itself, it is not. The thyroid is just a gland located in your throat around the windpipe. Much like the many other glands in your body, its purpose is to secrete hormones that help regulate certain functions in your body.  When the gland is unable to produce enough hormones or when it overproduces hormones, that’s when it is considered that one has thyroid disease. The two conditions are called hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism respectively, which is commonly known as thyroid disease. 

Crores of people in India are expected to have either hypo or hyperthyroidism. Even though the condition seems harmless, it can significantly increase your risk for other health concerns, which can be life-threatening, if left unchecked. More and more people, especially young adults and teenagers are getting affected by this condition due to several reasons. So, let’s understand the various thyroid risk factors and thyroid causes to create much-needed awareness around the condition.

Important Thyroid Symptoms You Should Know About

Thyroid is a complicated condition to monitor. This is because thyroid symptoms in men and women can differ. The symptoms also differ depending on whether you are experiencing hyper or hypothyroidism. The symptoms often feel very natural as a normal progression of life, when in fact it is caused by problems with your thyroid gland. To help you understand the differences and the condition better, here’s a look at the different common symptoms of both hypo and hyperthyroidism.

Hyperthyroidism Symptoms

• Sleep problems including conditions like insomnia
• Unexplained weight loss
• Being irritable, anxious, or nervous regularly
• Muscle weakness with tremors
• Irregular menstrual periods or completely missed periods
• Hot flashes and sensitivity to heat
• Problems with your vision and having eye problems

Hypothyroidism Symptoms

• Unexplained weight gain (may be sudden or significant weight gain gradually)
• Being unable to tolerate cold temperatures
• Feeling tired all the time with a lack of energy for daily activities
• Not being able to remember things clearly
• Changes in your hair texture, which becomes very dry and coarse
• Frequent and heavy menstrual periods
• Changes in your voice and it becoming hoarse (this is also a common among thyroid cancer symptoms, so you must get it checked out if you have it)

Hair fall is especially an important symptom of thyroid conditions that you can monitor easily. If you are losing a lot of hair suddenly and experiencing weight changes, you should definitely get checked for thyroid disease. With that being said, let’s review the various causes of thyroid in females and males along with the important risk factors.

Causes of Thyroid & Important Risk Factors

Understanding thyroid causes means studying various health conditions, which impact the way the thyroid gland works. Thyroid disease doesn’t prop out without just cause. In most cases, both hyper and hypothyroidism is linked with other conditions respectively that lead to the symptoms mentioned above. Let’s review the different causes of thyroid and their risk factors.

Hyperthyroidism Causes

• Nodules: Hyperthyroidism can be caused by an overactive nodule inside the thyroid gland. In some cases, there can be multiple overactive nodules too, which would lead to a condition called goiter. The overactive nodules are a subject of excessive cell growth in the thyroid gland, which leads to the overproduction of thyroid hormones.
   
• High Levels of Iodine in The Body: You must have commonly heard that having too much salt in your food or just in general, can cause thyroid. That’s true. Too much iodine in your body can cause your thyroid to overact, which would produce too much thyroid hormone. Other sources of iodine that you must keep in check are medications and even some cough syrups.
   
• Grave’s Disease (Diffused Toxic Goitre): Grave’s disease is a condition where the entire thyroid gland becomes overactive. It is an autoimmune condition and because of that the cause of grave’s disease is not fully understood.
   
• Thyroiditis: This condition is said to be painful for some while painless for others. The thyroid gland releases all the hormones it has stored, which creates an imbalance in the endocrine system, which is now flooded with thyroid hormones. It is expected that this condition is temporary, but you should definitely get it checked if the symptoms start showing.

These causes and conditions are more common than people would think apart from the autoimmune conditions mentioned. It is important to be vigilant of the symptoms and take special care of your body with good habits like minimizing salt intake, to keep yourself safe.

Hypothyroidism Causes

• Iodine Deficiency: Just like excess iodine in your body can make your thyroid gland overactive, iodine deficiency can cause your thyroid gland to not produce enough hormones. Iodine deficiency is a common cause of hypothyroidism and it affects millions of people across the world every year.
   
• Thyroiditis: It is also a cause of hypothyroidism as it is for hyperthyroidism. In the case of hypothyroidism, inflammation of the thyroid gland causes it to not function properly. This can lead to stopping or minimal production of thyroid hormones in the body.
   
• Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: This is an autoimmune condition that is inherited genetically. It is a painless condition where the body’s cells attack the thyroid and stop it from functioning properly.
   
• Non-Functioning Thyroid Gland: This is a condition most common among newborns. At birth, some newborns don’t have a properly functioning thyroid gland, which if left unchecked can lead to mental and physical health problems when growing up. To counter this, modern hospitals test the newborn after birth to check for proper functioning of the thyroid gland.
   
• Postpartum Thyroiditis: This is a temporary condition that affects mothers after childbirth. The condition leads to inflammation of the thyroid gland, which results in improper functioning of the gland.

Thyroid Disease Risk Factors

Now that you know about the common causes of thyroid disease, it is very important to also know about the risk factors of the condition. If you have the risk factors, you must discuss the condition with your doctor and understand what type of active surveillance or lifestyle changes may be required to keep you safe. Here are the thyroid disease risk factors you must know about and monitor.

• A family history of thyroid disease increases the risk of the condition in the next generations
   
• Medical conditions like Type 1 diabetes, pernicious anemia, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and primary adrenal insufficiency
   
• Medications that have high iodine contents such as amiodarone
   
• Being treated for thyroid or its related conditions like thyroid cancer in the past can increase your risk for it again
   

Thyroid Treatment

Based on the type of thyroid condition you have, doctors generally recommend lifestyle changes and medication for thyroid treatment. If your symptoms are severe, doctors can even recommend surgery. Let’s review the common treatment options recommended for thyroid disease.

Hyperthyroidism Treatment

• Medication: This is the most common treatment option for thyroid disease. The prescribed medication namely methimazole and propylthiouracil stop the thyroid gland from producing more hormone. This is used to treat hyperthyroidism.
   
• Beta Blockers: They are another type of medications used to manage the symptoms of thyroid disease. Beta blockers do not alter the level of hormones in your body and as such are always used alongside other medication to treat the condition.
   
• Radioactive Iodine: This is a modern treatment process where the iodine is used to damage your thyroid gland and stop it from producing excessive hormones. However, this treatment process has certain risks that you should discuss with your doctors before going for the treatment.
   
• Surgery: Thyroidectomy is the surgery commonly recommended to patients for an overactive thyroid. This is a permanent treatment and involves removing a part of or the entire thyroid gland from the body. If you go through with the surgery, you will be required to get thyroid replacement hormones for the rest of your life.
   

Hypothyroidism Treatment

• Levothyroxine: This is a medication that’s used to manage hypothyroidism. It is a synthetic thyroid hormone replacement that can keep your body functioning normally even if you have hypothyroidism. This is one of the only treatment options that are generally used for hypothyroidism.

Conclusion

Thyroid disease affects crores of people in India and often due to delayed diagnosis, they are required to go through extensive treatments. Now that you know about the causes, symptoms, and thyroid treatment options, you must monitor the symptoms and risk factors as you age. With timely diagnosis, it is possible to treat thyroid only with lifestyle changes. For more information about thyroid disease, feel free to check out our website. You can also visit us today to consult our specialists regarding your symptoms or risk factors.