What is and what are the causes of hyperthyroidism? How does it manifest itself, what symptoms to watch out for and what to do?
hyperthyroidism is a condition caused by an overactive thyroid gland . That is, the thyroid gland releases large amounts of thyroid hormones, functioning more than it should. But what are the causes of hyperthyroidism? How does it manifest itself and what are the best treatments?
Metabolism , nervous system and heart are the first three things that suffer from a hyperthyroid condition. The thyroid hormones T3 and T4 , in fact, regulate the speed with which the body’s chemical processes take place, the metabolism in fact, influencing many of the vital functions, just like heart and respiratory rate, fertility, digestion and growth. (Also Read: Thyroid Problems: 10 Most Common Symptoms )
Mostly women between 20 and 40 suffer from it, but if it can arise at any age.
Symptoms of hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism is also linked to disorders such as:
- excessive sweating,
- tremors,
- heat intolerance,
- Brittle nails and hair
- Weight loss, oversized thinness, heightened sense of hunger, but also diarrhea
Furthermore, precisely because thyroid hormones are thermogenic, the skin of a person suffering from hyperthyroidism is hot from excessive blood flow and peripheral vasodilation.
Hyperthyroidism, like hypothyroidism , is often associated with:
- goiter, that is, an increase in the volume and weight of the thyroid gland,
- while you can also suffer from excessive hair fragility or even alopecia.
- An excess of thyroid hormones, then, increases “protein catabolism”, which can cause muscle weakness, and can affect the activity of the central nervous system, causing psychological disorders such as nervousness, agitation and insomniaor a true psychosis .
Nor should the repercussions of hyperthyroidism on the heart be underestimated: the heart rate , in fact, increases and you can run into hypertension, often associated with hypertrophy of the left ventricle. This is why hyperthyroidism should definitely not be overlooked in older people.
The causes of hyperthyroidism
In most cases, hyperthyroidism is due to the so-called Graves-Basedow disease , an autoimmune disease that alters the control mechanism for the production of thyroid hormones.
But other causes are:
- an inflammation of the thyroid gland(thyroiditis),
- an abuse of thyroid preparations for slimming purposes;
- the presence of nodules (toxic goiter);
- pituitary adenoma;
- excessive intake of iodine, but mostly in predisposed subjects (in any case, experts advise to be careful not to abuse iodized salt and supplements).
A transient form of hyperthyroidism can also occur during pregnancy or immediately after delivery, which will resolve spontaneously within a few weeks.
Based on the cause of origin, the therapy to be followed is decided. Generally, drug therapy is based on two main categories of drugs: thyrostats , which inhibit the production of thyroid hormones, and beta-blockers, which keep all peripheral manifestations of hyperthyroidism under control. Finally, in addition to radiometabolic therapy with radioactive iodine , there are also thyroidectomy , surgery with which the thyroid gland is completely eliminated, and subtotal thyroidectomy , which removes only a part of it.
