According to the American Thyroid Association, about 20 million Americans will develop some form of thyroid condition during their lifetime. However, more than half of these people aren’t really aware of it. And that’s not actually surprising. Thyroid disease can often go undetected for a while as the symptoms aren’t very clear. Fortunately, it’s really easy to find out whether you’re part of that group or not. All it takes is just a simple blood test.
Who Is At Risk for Thyroid Disease?
Anyone can have a thyroid condition. That being said, it’s more likely to affect women, people who have a family history of thyroid disease, and individuals over 60 years of age. It’s also possible to develop a thyroid condition during or after pregnancy. Finally, people with other autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, may also be more likely to develop a thyroid condition.
What Are the Symptoms?
Thyroid disease can express itself in a variety of symptoms, depending on whether the condition is hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. Someone with hypothyroidism is dealing with a thyroid gland that is not producing enough hormones. Therefore, that person may experience fatigue, depression, weight gain, cold intolerance, impaired fertility, and forgetfulness.
On the other hand, hyperthyroidism is a condition that causes your thyroid gland to produce too much of the hormone. Consequently, you may experience irritability, nervousness, muscle weakness, sleep disturbances, unexplained weight loss, vision problems, and eye irritation.
You may see now why a lot of people are not diagnosed with a thyroid condition. While both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism tend to have noticeable symptoms, they are hard to correlate with the thyroid. After all, not being able to sleep and gaining weight can have a variety of underlying causes. The same is true for many of the other symptoms. Plus, new mothers are especially prone to feel fatigued and won’t likely connect their inability to get rest with an underlying thyroid condition.
Why You Should Get Tested
Thyroid conditions are easily treated with prescription medication. Getting your thyroid hormones under control will alleviate a lot of problems for you. However, if you haven’t been diagnosed with a thyroid condition, then why should you get tested? One, the test is practically painless, quick, and easy. Two, the potential benefits are great. If you haven’t been feeling top fit lately, then your thyroid may very well be the cause.
At the Revive Health Center, we will get to the bottom of your health problems. We don’t assume that you have thyroid disease, but we will certainly perform a thorough examination that includes blood work. This allows us to find out what is going on with your body, and how we can get you feeling better as soon as possible.
References
American Thyroid Association (2014). “Prevalence and Impact of Thyroid Disease”. Retrieved from http://www.thyroid.org/media-main/about-hypothyroidism/.
National Institute of Health MedlinePlus (2012). “The Thyroid and You: Coping with a Common Condition”. Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/spring12/articles/spring12pg22-23.html.
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