Hyperthyroidism: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment & Medication
Hyperthyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland produces too many hormones. There are different causes, including autoimmune disease, inflammation of the thyroid gland from Graves' disease, or another cause, a tumor on your pituitary gland or adrenal glands that releases more thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Hyperthyroidism can also be caused by some cancers and radiation therapy for cancer.
The symptoms of hyperthyroidism include anxiety and irritability; difficulty sleeping; palpitations; diarrhea or constipation; heat intolerance or heat sensitivity; weight loss with increased appetite and more frequent bowel movements. Other symptoms may include brittle hair, dry skin, elevated blood pressure, fast heart rate.
What Causes Hyperthyroidism?
The most common cause of hyperthyroidism is too much thyroid hormone in your system because you're making too much thyroid hormone (hyperfunctioning gland) or because your pituitary gland (a gland at the base of your brain) over-produces thyrotropin (TSH), which causes more thyroid hormone to be made in your body (hyperfunctioning glands).
What are the Symptoms of Hyperthyroidism?
Hyperthyroidism is a disorder of the thyroid or gland of the neck that produces hormones. One of the symptoms is an abnormally fast heart rate. Other symptoms can include weight loss, excessive sweating, tremors in your hands and elsewhere, restlessness, frequent bowel movements, and muscle weakness.
The most common symptom of hyperthyroidism is weight loss, which affects about 80 percent of people with the condition. Other symptoms include:
· nervousness and restlessness
· frequent bowel movements (more than three per day) and sweating
· anxiety and irritability (especially early in the morning)
Who is at Risk for Hyperthyroidism?
Hypothyroidism is a condition where the thyroid gland doesn't release enough hormones, while hyperthyroidism is when your thyroid gland releases too many hormones.
According to WebMD, people with a family history of autoimmune disease are at a higher risk for developing hyperthyroidism, while people who have been diagnosed with Graves' disease or Hashimoto's thyroiditis are at a higher risk for hypothyroidism. Hyperthyroidism tends to run in families and can also be caused by radiation exposure from nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s.
What impacts someone with Hyperthyroidism physically and emotionally?
For an individual who is suffering from hyperthyroidism, the thyroid gland is overactive and produces too much thyroxine. This can lead to several physical side-effects including weight loss, increased appetite, tremors (shaking) in hands/fingers/joints, difficulties with concentration and insomnia (trouble sleeping), sweating (excessive), fatigue (feeling tired all the time), heart palpitations or irregular heartbeat, visual disturbances such as seeing rainbows around lights at night time and swelling around the neck.
The emotional impacts on a person with hyperthyroidism may vary from no change to milder negative moods due to difficulty concentrating or feeling more anxious.
Is treatment for Hyperthyroidism always necessary in pregnancy?
Treatment for hyperthyroidism in pregnancy is not always necessary. The risks of untreated hyperthyroidism may include an increased risk for miscarriage or low birth weight, preterm labor, or even heart failure.
The treatment for hyperthyroidism during pregnancy is usually radioactive iodine therapy, which involves taking a pill that contains radioactive iodine.
The radioactive iodine destroys the thyroid gland and reduces the amount of thyroxine produced in the body. In the US, radioactive iodine therapy has been used since the 1950s to treat Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
What is the preferred treatment for Hyperthyroidism during pregnancy?
The goal of hyperthyroidism treatment is to control or normalize thyroid hormone levels, but obtaining euthyroidism may not be the ideal goal for every patient. In a retrospective study of 486 euthyroid pregnant women and 389 euthyroid nonpregnant women, higher FT4 values were associated with a lower frequency of miscarriages and with a longer gestation in pregnancy. A randomized, prospective trial evaluated the effect of treatment with antithyroid drugs on pregnancy outcomes in 41 women who had serum TSH levels higher than 10 mU/L during pregnancy.
