Thyroid Awareness Month

 As we round out the first month of the New Year, we will be discussing the Thyroid gland and the many disorders that can occur as a result of an under or over active gland. January each year is dedicated to Thyroid Awareness and Thyroid health. According to the American Thyroid Association, 1 in 10 people suffer from a thyroid disorder with the vast majority of those patients being female. More than half of the people in America that suffer from a thyroid disorder are undiagnosed, which is why it is important to talk about the thyroid to your primary care specialist.

The thyroid is a small butterfly-shaped gland located at the base of the neck. This gland influences the function of the brain, liver, heart, kidneys, and skin. Its main job is to make hormones that are secreted into the blood stream and carried to every tissue in the body. The body uses that hormone for metabolism, digestion, regulation of body temperature, and much more. The thyroid hormones secreted from the Thyroid gland are T3 or triiodothyronine and T4 or thyroxine. T4 can be converted in other tissues to T3 by a process called deiodination. The T3 hormone is at the center of your digestive and metabolic function, as well as playing a key role in bone health. Many providers are divided in treatment of low thyroid because for decades only T4 has been targeted to replace. Specialized testing can now be done to target the active T3 hormone and see if for some reason your body may not be converting T4 to the more active T3 hormone. Thyroid replacement products exist by prescription that contain just T4 (levothyroxine) or just T3 (liothyroinine) or a combination of each such as in Armor Thyroid. Bottom line is that if you are failing to respond to a T4 only replacement, T3 levels should be tested and T3 supplementation should be considered.

Now we will talk about the different disorders that affect the thyroid. The main diseases are Hyperthyroidism and Hypothyroidism. Over active thyroid disease or Hyperthyroidism occurs when the thyroid gland produces excess levels of thyroxine. This overproduction can lead to irregular heartbeat, enlarged thyroid gland, insomnia, weight loss, excessive sweating, diarrhea, and increased appetite. Medications can be given, such as Methimazole, to slow the production of T4 or surgical and radiation options exist. Hyperthyroidism is most common in patients under 50. Hypothyroidism, on the other hand, is an underproduction of thyroid hormone and is most common in patients over 60 and in females. When the thyroid gland is under producing T4 or T3 fatigue, depression, dry skin, sensitivity to cold/heat, weight gain, and brittle hair and nails are common. In hypothyroidism a disturbance in Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) can exist. TSH is released in the pituitary gland in the brain in direct response to circulating thyroid hormone levels. It either increased when it senses a low thyroid hormone level or decreases in response to high thyroid hormone blood levels. While a simple TSH level can be drawn it isn’t a great indicator of which hormone is missing or why it’s missing. It is a great and easy starting point to diagnosing a thyroid disorder because a complete thyroid panel can be ordered for a better look at what might be happening in your thyroid. Once that complete thyroid panel is back, thyroid hormone replacement can be started targeting your specific levels. Thyroid replacement therapy will have to be lifelong and at least yearly testing will need to be completed to ensure that your dose is correct.

There are other types of thyroid disorders such as thyroid cancer. Thyroid cancer begins when cells grown and rapidly multiply to form a tumor. As the cells begin to grow and multiply a lump in the neck or enlarged lymph glands are common as are voice changes and difficulty swallowing. The four types of thyroid cancer are Papillary thyroid cancer (slow growing), follicular thyroid cancer (easiest to treat), Medullary thyroid cancer (hereditary), and Anaplastic thyroid cancer (most aggressive). Treatment options will vary depending upon the type of Thyroid cancer you have and all have high rates of recovery. Early diagnosis is key so it is important that your provider palpates the thyroid to check for any changes at your yearly check up. It is also important to discuss and new or worsening symptoms that you might be experiencing so that blood work can be drawn to determine a correct diagnosis. If you have any questions regarding thyroid replacement or diagnosing feel free to reach out to myself or Beth at Sparta Discount Drugs as we are here to help. We understand that we are living in unprecedented times and yearly checkups are easily overlooked. That is precisely why your local community pharmacist is here. We are both Doctorate trained/educated and here to guide you and your family in the right direction!