Sometimes you are simply amazed at nature – as far as everything is thought out in our body. Today we’ll talk about a small, completely invisible organ that is responsible for so many functions of our body – the thyroid gland.
The importance of its proper functioning is indicated by the fact that, thanks to its hormones, we forgot about a disease such as cretinism. In most developed countries, including the CIS, newborns are screened for thyroid-stimulating hormone. If a child who is diagnosed with congenital hypothyroidism begins to give the right medication on time, he will grow up completely healthy. And if not – alas.
The word “nerd” that has become almost abusive today is actually a disease that develops in children as a result of congenital hypothyroidism. Previously, when they did not know about it, and synthetic hormones simply did not exist, cretins were sometimes born and raised in some families. Today, this is practically not observed – if the baby begins to take the hormone on time, it will not be any different from peers.
Both iodine deficiency and its excess are invariable stress for our thyroid gland. In the first case, the thyroid gland “starves”, therefore, in order to provide the body with the right amount of hormones, it begins to increase and produce more hormones. Sometimes there are too many of them, and a large organ begins to squeeze the trachea and can be seen on the neck. As already mentioned, this situation is typical for Belarus, part of Russia and Ukraine. Therefore, the recommendations to chew seaweed and prefer sea fish to chicken steak are quite reasonable.
The exact opposite situation can be observed on the coast. For example, for residents of Japan, where there is no shortage of iodine-containing products, a reduced thyroid gland is a very common phenomenon called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. The thyroid gland becomes smaller, respectively, produces less hormones, hypothyroidism begins in a person. In this case, the gland simply “does not work,” and the person is forced to take thyroid hormones.
Folk remedies for the thyroid gland do not exist. In any case, doctors are not aware of any effective technique. But people are difficult to persuade.
Some endocrinologists still drip iodine on sugar. And this is even harmful. One drop of iodine contains an annual dose, and excessive consumption of this element can lead to hypothyroidism. Man needs iodine in micrograms. Tincture on the partitions of walnuts is another common folk remedy. But this is not the iodine that the body needs. It is better to eat nuts separately, drink vodka separately, and for prevention, take drugs purchased at a pharmacy.
Therefore, the only sure means of prevention remains taking iodine preparations – in strict accordance with the doctor’s recommendations . Even a healthy person, especially women, needs to do an ultrasound of the thyroid gland every year and take blood tests for the main hormones. In this case, there is a chance to detect changes in the body in time and take appropriate measures. When the nodes on the gland begin to be felt with the fingers, an effective treatment no longer exists. It remains only to observe. And if they continue to grow, then the only treatment remains surgery.
After surgery, a person needs to take the hormone thyroxine for life, which in most cases easily allows compensation. The main thing is to take it once a day in the morning half an hour before meals. If thyroxine is not taken, hypothyroidism begins. Low hormone levels affect many vital processes in the body: dry skin, drowsiness, swelling, hair loss, memory loss, and cold are not well tolerated. All this can haunt a person even before surgery, when the thyroid gland produces too little or too many hormones.
It is not surprising that quite often it is not easy to establish the true causes of this state of health . Unfortunately, experience shows that our doctors suspect the thyroid gland when all other diagnoses have not been confirmed. So, our health is exclusively in our hands. Therefore, it is easier to do an ultrasound again than to choose the right specialist.