What are the common thyroid diseases?
Hyperthyroidism – Hyperthyroidism means you have too much thyroid hormone. This makes your body use energy faster than it should. Symptoms of hyperthyroidism are:
Palpitations (fast or abnormal heart rate)
Anxiety & depression
Difficulty sleeping
Diarrhoea
Feeling hot
Weakness & fatigue
Weight loss despite feeling hungry
Tremor
Hair loss
Light or absent periods
Treatment for hyperthyroidism involves having a single dose of radioactive iodine by mouth or by injection, taking anti-thyroid tablets regularly, or surgery. Many times all three methods are appropriate, while at other times a single treatment may be the best option.
Graves’ disease is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism. In Graves’ disease the body produces antibodies which damage the thyroid and cause release of thyroid hormones. This is known as an autoimmune disease.
Hypothyroidism—Hypothyroidism means you have too little thyroid hormone. This makes your body use energy more slowly than it should. Hypothyroidism is common; in fact, you can have hypothyroidism for a number of years before it is recognized and treated. Symptoms of hypothyroidism include:
Weight gain
Depression
Increased hair growth
Heavy or abnormal periods
Constipation
Feeling cold
Dry skin
Tiredness
Treatment for hypothyroidism is usually straightforward and involves taking tablets of thyroid hormone regularly.
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the UK. Like Grave’s disease it is an autoimmune disease. Antibodies are produced which damage the thyroid and lower the amount of hormone produced.
Thyroid Cancer—There are 4 types of thyroid cancer: papillary, follicular, medullary and anaplastic. Papillary and follicular cancer are slow growing, and medullary cancer usually has a good outcome if it has not spread beyond the thyroid gland. Anaplastic thyroid cancer is the least common tumour, but spread quickly and difficult to treat. Thyroid cancer may require different treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy.
Solitary Thyroid Nodule—A solitary thyroid nodule is a small lump on the thyroid gland. By age 50 as many as 50% of the population will have a nodule somewhere in the thyroid. The overwhelming majority of these nodules are harmless. Occasionally, thyroid nodules can be cancerous and need to be treated.
Thyroiditis—Thyroiditis means the thyroid gland is inflamed. Thyroiditis can have several symptoms such as fever and pain. It can occur with hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism.
Goitres—A thyroid goitre is a visable enlargement of the thyroid gland. This rarely happens in developed countries, but is common in some areas in developing countries where their is little iodine in the diet. Iodine is needed to produce thyroid hormones so if it is in short supply the thyroid tries to compensates and grows in size. Goitres can be surgically removed if they compress other structures of the neck such as the windpipe (trachea) and food pipe (oesophagus). This compression makes it difficult to breathe and swallow.