Content:

• Reasons for development
• Symptoms
• Treatment methods

Chronic thyroid thyroiditis is an exclusively autoimmune disease associated with impaired immune systems. Simply put, the immune system, instead of protecting the body from infection, produces inflammation in the tissues. The causes of this disease are not completely explainable, among them, of course, a genetic predisposition and stress can be an aggressor of development. 

The disease is also known as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in honor of the name of the Japanese scientist who provided a description of the disease.

Reasons for development

Chronic thyroiditis belongs to autoimmune diseases caused by a deficiency of the immune system in which the body turns against itself. For an unknown reason, the immune system recognizes the protein as hostile to the thyroid gland and destroys it, impairing the activity of the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of thyroid hormones. Most often, the female sex suffers from this ailment.

It is worth noting that you can get sick with chronic thyroiditis at any age, but women of mature age often suffer. People with type 1 diabetes and those with a family history of thyroid disease are at particular risk.

Development Risks:

•  Genes. People who suffer from chronic thyroiditis often have relatives with thyroid disease or other autoimmune diseases. Now we can conclude that chronic thyroiditis is a family disease.
• Hormones. Hashimoto (chronic thyroiditis) often affects women or girls of childbearing age, suggesting that sex hormones may play a role in the development of the disease. In addition, it is worth noting that there is a possibility of developing thyroiditis after childbirth, but as a rule, after a while, the disease disappears.
• Elevated iodine levels in the body. Observations prove that some medications contain too much iodine and trace elements. Taking them on an ongoing basis disrupts the thyroid gland.
• Irradiation. People who have been exposed to radiation have an increased risk of developing the disease. Chernobyl victims are more vulnerable (due to the Chernobyl accident) and some Japanese who were exposed to radiation during the atomic bomb explosion.

All these reasons are important, so if you are aware of one of them, be sure to tell your doctor.

Symptoms

Symptoms of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis may be mild or may not appear at all, which takes years for its development. The first sign of a disease is often an enlarged thyroid gland called goiter. Goiter can cause an increase in the front of the neck. Large goiter may interfere with normal swallowing. Other symptoms of chronic thyroiditis may include:

• fatigue,
• hair loss or thinning,
• the difficulty of getting pregnant
• hoarse voice
• pallor or swelling of the face,
• irregular or heavy menstrual periods,
• weight gain
•  joint and muscle pain
• depression,
• constipation,
•  joint and muscle pain
• slow heart rate.

Due to the fact that the symptoms of chronic thyroiditis of the thyroid gland may be similar to other diseases, it is important to consult a doctor to establish a diagnosis.

Treatment methods

Treatment of chronic thyroid thyroiditis involves compensating for low hormone levels by administering the drug. The dose of hormones is determined by the doctor and should not be changed. Supplements apply to the rest of your life, every six months, monitoring TSH levels. Treatment includes the administration of drugs containing thyroid hormone. It is used once a day on an empty stomach with water. It is well tolerated, and a properly prescribed dose will help restore normal levels of thyroid hormones in the body. It happens that with severe inflammation, treatment with steroids is prescribed. But these are exceptional cases.

If the thyroid gland has increased so much that it presses on the organs of the neck, then a surgical intervention is prescribed, during which either part of the thyroid gland or the entire organ is removed.

Iodine is necessary for the normal functioning of the thyroid gland. Where to find him? For thyroid to function properly, iodine is required. This element is found in seaweed or salt. When there is a lack of iodine in the body, thyroid goiter develops. Thus, each of us should indulge each year with a rest on the sea with sea water and consume a small pinch of iodized salt every day with food.

Black and green tea, walnuts and eggs are also a good source of iodine.