The thyroid gland is a small organ that’s located in the front of the neck, wrapped around the windpipe. It’s shaped like a butterfly, smaller in the middle with two wide wings that extend around the side of your throat. The thyroid is a gland. You have glands throughout your body, where they create and release substances that help your body do a specific thing. Your thyroid makes hormones that help control many vital functions of your body.
What does the Thyroid do?
Your thyroid has an important job to do within your body — releasing and controlling thyroid hormones that control metabolism. Metabolism is a process where the food you take into your body is transformed into energy. This energy is used throughout your entire body to keep many of your body’s systems working correctly. Think of your metabolism as a generator. It takes in raw energy and uses it to power something bigger.
The thyroid controls your metabolism with a few specific hormones — T4 and T3. These two hormones are created by the thyroid and they tell the body’s cells how much energy to use. When your thyroid works properly, it will maintain the right amount of hormones to keep your metabolism working at the right rate. As the hormones are used, the thyroid creates replacements.
This is all supervised by something called the pituitary gland. When the pituitary gland senses a lack of thyroid hormones or a high level of hormones in your body, it will adjust the amounts with its own hormone. This hormone is called thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). The TSH will be sent to the thyroid and it will tell the thyroid what needs to be done to get the body back to normal.
What is the Thyroid?
What is Thyroid Disorder?
Thyroid disease is a general term for a medical condition that keeps your thyroid from making the right amount of hormones. Your thyroid typically makes hormones that keep your body functioning normally.
-
When the thyroid makes too much thyroid hormone, your body uses energy too quickly. This is called hyperthyroidism. Using energy too quickly will do more than make you tired it can make your heart beat faster, cause you to lose weight without trying, and even make you feel nervous.
-
On the flip side of this, your thyroid can make too little thyroid hormone. This is called hypothyroidism. When you have too little thyroid hormone in your body, it can make you feel tired, you might gain weight and you may even be unable to tolerate cold temperatures. They can also be passed down through families (inherited).
Who is affected by Thyroid disorder?
Thyroid disease can affect anyone — men, women, infants, teenagers, and the elderly. It can be present at birth (typically hypothyroidism) and it can develop as you age (after menopause in women). A woman is about five to eight times more likely to be diagnosed with a thyroid condition than a man.
You may be at a higher risk of developing thyroid disease if you:
-
Have a family history of thyroid disease.
-
Have a medical condition (these can include pernicious anemia, type 1 diabetes, primary adrenal insufficiency, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren’s syndrome, and Turner syndrome).
-
Take a medication that’s high in iodine.
-
Are older than 60, especially women.
-
Have had treatment for a past thyroid condition or cancer.
Thyroid disease is very common, with an estimated 4.2 crore people in India having some type of thyroid disorder.
Symptoms of Thyroid
There are a variety of symptoms you could experience if you have thyroid disease. Unfortunately, symptoms of a thyroid condition are often very similar to the signs of other medical conditions and stages of life. This can make it difficult to know if your symptoms are related to a thyroid issue or something else entirely.
Symptoms of an overactive thyroid (Hyperthyroidism) can include:
-
Experiencing anxiety, irritability, and nervousness.
-
Having trouble sleeping.
-
Losing weight.
-
Having an enlarged thyroid gland or a goiter.
-
Having muscle weakness and tremors.
-
Experiencing irregular menstrual periods or having your menstrual cycle stop.
-
Feeling sensitive to heat.
-
Having vision problems or eye irritation.
Symptoms of an underactive thyroid (Hypothyroidism) can include:
-
Feeling tired (fatigue).
-
Gaining weight.
-
Experiencing forgetfulness.
-
Having frequent and heavy menstrual periods.
-
Having dry and coarse hair.
-
Having a hoarse voice.
-
Experiencing an intolerance to cold temperatures.
Opening Hours
Morning -
Mon to Sat
By Appointment Only
Evening -
Mon to Sat
5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Contact us
DrAnshulEndo@gmail.com
Address
11, Mall Rd, Block C6B, Janakpuri, New Delhi
Time from
Tilak Nagar, Vikas Puri, Uttam Nagar - 10mins
Dwarka, Rajouri Garden, Paschim Vihar - 15mins
Punjabi Bagh, Patel Nagar, Kirti Nagar - 25mins,