Monday, January 27, 2014
Thyroid disease is common and treatable
If you say diabetes or breast cancer, everyone automatically
knows what you are talking about. But if you mention thyroid disease, sometimes
all you get is a blank stare.
But the fact is that thyroid disease is very prevalent, so
since January is national Thyroid Awareness Month, it is an opportune time to
educate people about the disease, its signs and symptoms.
The thyroid gland is located in your neck, right below the
Adam’s Apple, over the trachea (or windpipe). It produces two hormones, thyroxine and triiodothyronine
(T4, T3 for short).
T3 is produced
in small quantities by the thyroid, but is made in the rest of the body from
T4. It is ultimately responsible
for the thyroid effects on our bodies.
T3 is essential for the differentiation of cells and for the coordinated
growth of cells.
In warm-blooded
animals (including humans), T3 also stimulates heat production to maintain body
temperature. In babies and
children, the lack of a thyroid hormone impedes growth and maturation, even
though they also have trouble maintaining body temperature. In adults, a lack of or excess of
thyroid hormones is associated
with reduced or excess heat production, and the function of many organs,
particularly the heart, brain, kidney, muscles, skin and digestive tract is
also reduced or increased in similar proportion.
Patients with
underactive thyroids will have low energy, drowsiness, slow heart, dry skin,
muscle stiffness, and tend to be cold.
On the other hand, patients with excess thyroid hormones will be
overactive, heat intolerant, sweaty, nervous, insomniac, and have palpitations,
accelerated bowel movements and other symptoms.
The thyroid can be the target of a variety of diseases that
could reduce or increase its activity or simply cause growth, inflammation,
nodules (lumps) and benign or malignant tumors (cancer).
The most common form of thyroid disease is
autoimmunity. Our immune system
protects us from bacteria, viruses and foreign proteins, but this system must
learn how to recognize the components of our own bodies. This “learning” occurs
in our fetal life and often – probably for genetic reasons – it does not occur
properly and the system fails to recognize some cells or tissues generating a
broad spectrum of diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, pernicious
anemia, type I diabetes and many others.
Autoimmune thyroid disease may cause a chronic inflammation
of the gland known as Hashimoto’s disease, which often leads to an underactive
gland, growth or nodules.
The immune system may also produce antibodies that stimulate
the thyroid and cause hyperthyroidism or Graves’ disease, both of which can
affect the eyes and cause them to bulge. Non-immune thyroid nodules and tumors
are also frequent. Most of the
time these lumps are benign, but in roughly 10% of cases they may be
cancerous.
Symptoms of thyroid malfunction are often not specific.
Depression, for example, may cause an array of symptoms suggestive of
hypothyroidism. A common
misconception is that hypothyroidism causes obesity. While patients with
hypothyroidism frequently have difficulty losing weight, patients with
hypothyroidism seldom become obese.
Thyroid diseases are frequent and often complicated. The appropriate diagnosis and treatment
require a deep knowledge of thyroid physiology and pathology. Thyroid disease may impact peoples’
lives in many ways. Patients with
hypothyroidism tend to blame this condition for most of their symptoms, which
frequently result from other causes.
This may lead to erroneous changes in the dose of thyroid
medication.
Jorge E.
Silva is the medical director of the Backus Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes
and Metabolism. This advice should not replace the advice of your personal
healthcare provider. To comment on this column or others, visit the Healthy
Living blog at www.healthydocs.blogspot.com or e-mail Dr. Silva or any of the Healthy Living columnists at healthyliving@wwbh.org.
Monday, January 06, 2014
Laughing our way to better health
My favorite Life is Good T-shirt sports the smiling Jake
character paddling a kayak. It
says “Full Stream Ahead.”
Advertising for the brand continues, “If it’s not fun, why bother?”
These are stressful times. Every day we hear about homicides, bombings, political
protests, unemployment, foreclosures, bankruptcies, increasingly long lines at
soup kitchens and food pantries. Need I go on?
So maybe it isn’t frivolous to want to have some fun each
day; maybe it’s necessary to preserve our mental health.
Even if your stress level is at an all-time high, there are
benefits to fun and laughter. Being
aware of the present instead of worrying about past or anticipated stressors
allows us to be more open to happiness, laughter and having fun.
Research has shown that laughter reduces the level of stress
hormones like cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline), and dopamine. It also increases the level of healthy
hormones like endorphins. It’s no
joke that laughter strengthens our immune systems by increasing the number of
antibody-producing cells we have working for us.
My cousin, Nancy, firmly believes in the power of laughter. While sitting receiving chemotherapy infusions for breast cancer, she read the humorous Janet Evanovich book series, and often erupted into fits of laughter. She credits this with helping her through a difficult time.
My cousin, Nancy, firmly believes in the power of laughter. While sitting receiving chemotherapy infusions for breast cancer, she read the humorous Janet Evanovich book series, and often erupted into fits of laughter. She credits this with helping her through a difficult time.
Elizabeth Scott, MS, wrote about the social benefits of
laughter and stress management, “Laughter connects us with others. Just as with
smiling and kindness, most people find that laughter is contagious, so if you
bring more laughter into your life, you can most likely help others around you
to laugh more, and realize these benefits as well.”
So let’s all resolve to put a little more laughter into each
day and reap the health benefits.
Alice Facente is a community health nurse for the Backus Health System. This advice should not replace the advice of your personal healthcare provider. To comment on this column or others, visit the Healthy Living blog at www.healthydocs.blogspot.com or e-mail Ms. Facente or any of the Healthy Living columnists at healthyliving@wwbh.org.
