Home | Health | Diseases
The thyroid gland does not require extra attention or maintenance most of the time. But when it acts up, you will notice a change in your health marked by relevant symptoms. Although these may be vague enough to avoid your physician's diagnosis for a time, with the right blood test and a careful medical examination, you can soon find out if you have hypothyroidism. One of the first reasons to suspect that your thyroid may be acting up is if you feel extra sluggish or worn out. Some people report they get so tired and listless, that it becomes increasingly difficult to get out of bed most days. They can barely drag across the floor to get to the bathroom, and a flight of stairs seems to ask the impossible. Of course, if you get to this point, you need to see a doctor pronto, as your thyroid may be in serious trouble. But be sure to ask your doctor to evaluate any type of unexplained fatigue. Another symptom is dry skin and hair. You may find that your hair seems thin or brittle, and it could lose its sheen. Your skin may become rough and flaky, no matter how much you try to moisturize it. Like hair, skin can lose its natural vibrancy, tone, and color, especially around the joints like your elbows. Your mouth may feel drier than usual, as well. Internal organs may not work properly and show signs of problems. For example, you could develop frequent or recurrent constipation. Your periods (if you are a female) could start coming irregularly and may not have the same type of monthly flow that you are used to. Your heart or breathing may not seem to work as efficiently as before. This observation fits with the fatigue mentioned above. Since many of these symptoms are fairly generic, you will need to see your doctor to get an examination and accurate diagnosis. Your doctor may order blood tests to check the level of your thyroid's function. You might even be asked to take a radioactive pill or receive an injection that will let a technician check your thyroid's activity level the next day or so. Be sure to follow directions and keep pets or children away for a day or two afterward until the radioactive matter passes from your body. If the doctor makes a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, you will probably be given a prescription medication to supplement the work your thyroid is supposed to do. Most of the time this condition is permanent, and it could be serious or even fatal if you don't take the medication. That is why it is important to check with your doctor about any problems you may be having so you can get a speedy and correct diagnosis and treatment. If you have the opposite kind of symptoms, such as a racing heart rate, oily skin, and diarrhea, you could have hyperthyroidism or another condition. Always let your doctor know if you experience a significant change in bodily behavior.
Information and Articles: http://www.mastersmba.com
Providing Information on various topics, please browse our other Articles for more informative resources, we house information on every topic imaginable so regardless of your needs you can be assured to find the answer here. If you wish to reprint this on your own website, simply click the "Web Version" in the right menu, and you are presented with a pre-formatted document to use.
A lot of the information is written by the Master Article team, and published exclusively on the MastersMBA.com website, and we do our best to research all information to ensure it's as accurate as possible. However at times we also publish documents given to us by other sources, we do examine these documents to ensure they are as accurate and correct as possible however at times they discuss highly specialized fields making it hard to authenticate the validity of every fact in the document. These are written by specialists in their respective fields, and we do trust their integrity and judgment however it's always a good idea when doing any research to consult a number of sources and form your own conclusion based on a number of view points.
