To understand why my thyroid gland could be the cause to some of my above symptoms, I needed to understand what thyroid hormones stimulate. I learned that thyroid hormones stimulate protein synthesis and increase the use of glucose and fatty acids for ATP production. They also increase the breakdown of triglycerides and enhance cholesterol excretion, thus reducing blood cholesterol level.
I also learned that if you are hyperthyroidism, that your thyroid is said to be hyperactive. Hyperthyroidism is a condition in which there is overproduction of the thyroid hormone thyroxine, causing the levels of thyroid hormones in the blood to be too high. Hyperthyroidism can significantly accelerate your body's metabolism, causing sudden weight loss, rapid or irregular heartbeat, sweating, and nervousness, or irritability.
During lecture, Hasi-Moto Disease was mentioned. I have never heard of this disease prior to lecture but it is related to hypothyroidism. Our instruction told us the symptoms of it was increase weight in the face. She also said, the disease made a persons face appear very round. Since I have hypothyroidism, I wanted to know more about this. I actually went home and looked it up online after class. It is also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis. I learned that it is an auto immune disease that attacks your thyroid gland. The resulting inflammation often leads to an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism).
I have always heard people saying that so and so had hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism , and really never gave it much thought. It makes me wonder why so many women have this with their thyroid. Did your doctor happen to mention if it was hereditary?
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to read that you were able to find out what was causing all your symptoms. It’s so true how most women always assume we are feeling different due to our busy life style, and I feel that our doctors are sometimes to quick to blame it on that as well. Sounds like you had a good doctor that would listen to your concerns and run the proper tests.
I either forgot or did not know that if you had hypothyroidism that it increased the break down of triglycerides, and enhanced the cholesterol excretion, and reducing the blood cholesterol levels.
I have worked with a woman who has hyperthyroidism, and let me tell you, that girl could eat whatever she wanted, and not gain an ounce. She was also always so wound up that I was afraid her head may blow up.
Thank you for adding that you looked up Hasi-Moto Disease / Chronic Lymphocyte Thyrrodit, It was very interesting to learn about that.
Is something you yourself have to worry about?
Good job on this blog, I feel you had very good information. Keep up the good work.
Hi Clarissa !
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comments. It is nice to get positive feedback that your blogs are informative and may even help others learn some new facts when they read it.
I am glad that you asked me if it can be hereditary. I assumed it was but actually was not 100% sure. I decided to look this up after I read your comment. I did learn that it can be caused by genetic factors affecting the immune system. Heredity plays a role in both underactive and overactive thyroid. I learned that about half of those with close relatives with chronic autoimmune disease have antibodies which are the immune system's agents for attacking specific proteins. In this case, it attacks proteins to the thyroid. Approximately one third of those with Turner syndrome-one of the most common genetic diseases in women-have a thyroid disorder, usually hypothyroidism, in most cases resulting from Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
While looking up information on whether or not this disease is hereditary, I came across another interesting fact. People with anorexia or bulimia are also at risk for hypothyroidism. In these cases, however, reduced thyroid function may be an adaptation to malnutrition, and, therefore, some experts think only the eating disorder should be treated, not hypothyroidism. Women who have hypothyroidism are also at greater risk for autoimmune conditions. I believe eating disorders are more common in women then men and this could also be a reason that there are more women with this disease.
It may look to some that your friend is lucky to be able to eat what ever she wants and not gain weight. Sometimes I wish I had hyperthyroidism instead of hypo. Either way, it is not pleasant having either one of these diseases. I wouldn't want the anxiety or irritability that can come along with hyperthyroidism. Luckily there are treatments to help with this disease. Medications can be a life saver these days but unfortunately they can come with side affects. My co-worker just switched from the generic form of synthroid (levothyroxine) to the brand name synthroid. My co-worker told me that she was on the generic form for a few months and started to notice that she was having a lot of hair loss. She said that big chunks of hair were coming out in the shower. I am not sure if my co-worker will see a difference. I just looked up if hair loss is due to the medication or if it is caused by hypothyroidism. I learned a interesting fact that I will be sure to share with my co-worker on Monday. I learned that Hypothyroidism causes hair loss because metabolism is decreased in scalp follicles, leading to a decrease in hair strength and quality, and releasing of the hair from its follicles.
I myself, have not noticed abnormal hair loss but now I feel I have an answer as to why my hair has become very dry and just recently I can't seem to get rid of hair static. I thought it was my shampoo causing this but now I believe it is related to my thyroid.
Well, I hope some of these new facts were helpful to you. Thank you again for your comments and I will be commenting on one of your blogs soon. I have read some of them in the past and they were helpful to me ! Have a great day ! ~ Toby Lindsay