Hypothyroidism Diet Info

Hypothyroidism Symptoms

In case at this point you are thinking either, what are the symptoms of hypothyroidism or how would I know if I have a thyroid problem, I’ll reiterate a few of the symptoms.

If you currently have fatigue, unexplained weight gain, an enlarged thyroid gland or inflammation at the front of your neck, dry skin and hair, depression and constipation contact your doctor and have him or her run blood tests to see if you have a thyroid condition. Your doctor will be able to tell if your body is producing too little or too much thyroid hormone.

There are in essence two kinds of hypothyroidism, temporary and permanent hypothyroidism. Your doctor will determine which one you have. The conditions tend to affect more women than men.

Temporary Hypothyroidism

In the case of temporary hypothyroidism, your thyroid problems can be caused by thyroiditis, to much iodine (which can actually worsen existing hypothyroidism), to little iodine (causing an iodine deficiency) and various medications especially if you are pre-disposed to hypothyroidism through a family history.

Because the food and cooking supplies in United States contain plenty of iodine it’s unusual to see hypothyroidism which is caused by an iodine deficiency in this country. We are actually more likely to see this caused by an over intake or consumption of iodine in those who use iodine supplements, such as kelp pills, that are sold in health food stores and aren’t regulated by the FDA and therefore tend to exceed the recommended daily allowance. It’s still recommended however that people who are hypothyroid stay away from soy and soy based products.

Permanent Hypothyroidism

With permanent hypothyroidism the thyroid gland is damaged and cannot be cured. However your hypothyroidism can be treated, on a permanent basis, with success under proper medical advice, diagnosis, treatment and prescribed, proper levels of thyroid hormone medicine.

Always have your doctor provide medical advice and proper information with regard to your thyroid disorder whether you suffer from hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. (See Hypothyroidism Treatment)

There are a variety of things that cause permanent hypothyroidism:

• Autoimmune diseases: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is the most common cause of hypothyroidism, it is an autoimmune disease. With Hashimoto’s thyroiditis the immune system attacks the thyroid because it views the thyroid gland as a foreign object and then creates antibodies that over time shut down the thyroid gland.

A couple of other autoimmune diseases that put people at high risk for hypothyroidism are systemic lupus and type 1 diabetes.
Although pregnancy doesn’t actually cause hypothyroidism, a thyroid problem can develop both during and after pregnancy.

• Pituitary gland disorders: Issues with the pituitary gland such as pituitary surgery and tumors can slow or stop production of the tsh hormone which then causes it to send messages to the thyroid to decrease t3 and t4 hormones thus causing your hypothyroidism.

• Exposure to radiation or radiation treatment: The radioactive iodine that is used in these treatments destroys part or all, of the thyroid. Therefore if you’ve ever been treated with radioactive iodine this could cause you to develop thyroid disease.

• Thyroid surgery: Naturally if either part or all of your thyroid has been removed it may or will never fully function, I say may because on rare occasions a partial thyroid can still function enough to create a persons necessary, required amounts of thyroid hormone.

Some reasons why a person would need to have thyroid surgeries would be if they were diagnosed with goiter, thyroid cancer, Graves disease or thyroid nodules. In most cases after such surgeries thyroid hormone replacement becomes a necessity for the body to properly function on a metabolic level.

Now that we understand what causes hypothyroidism, it’s pretty safe to say that there are very few steps that can be taken in order to prevent hypothyroidism. At most with the help of medical professionals we can however control the affects of this disease.

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