Hyperthyroidism: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

Most people are well aware of the effects of hyper thyroidism. They understand this condition as one that allows people to either put on huge amounts of weight or continuously reduce a great deal with the passage of time. Most people understand the general notion of thyroid to be in this fashion. So if you are struck with any one condition, they simply gape at you and completely sympathize with you in this manner.

Symptoms
The thyroid gland, which is in the front of the neck, right behind your gullet, controls the rate of at which the body's cells work (the metabolic rate). In thyrotoxicosis, the rate of metabolism is increased, and this results in most of the following symptoms:

* Weight loss in spite of increased appetite
* Rapid heart rate
* A fine tremor
* Increased nervousness and emotional instability
* Intolerance of heat, and excessive sweating
* Staring, bulging eyes
* Enlargement of the thyroid gland, which is at the front of the neck, at the level of the voice box

Causes
Most often the cause seems to be the body developing an immune reaction against itself, in this case the parts of the thyroid cells which normally act as the receptors for thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), which is the hormone coming from the gland hanging beneath the brain (the pituitary gland). This hormone normally stimulates the thyroid to produce thyroxine, so antibodies bound on to these receptors cause production of thyroid hormone, and because it attaches to these receptors better than TSH would, more thyroxine than usual is produced.

How do you diagnose such a condition
In the presence of symptoms such as some or all of those above, your doctor is likely to arrange for a blood test to check on the amount of thyroid hormone (thyroxine) and other tests, looking at other hormones which control or are produced by the thyroid gland. These tests are collectively known as thyroid function tests.

In thyrotoxicosis, the level of thyroid hormone is elevated, and the hormone (thyroid stimulating hormone, TSH) that is produced by a gland hanging from the underside of the brain (pituitary gland) to drive the thyroid gland, is almost undetectable.

Especially if the thyroid gland is enlarged and has lumps in it, an ultrasound scan or a scan which involves the injection of radioactive technetium, a radio-isotope scan, may be arranged.

Treatment
You feel like there is no real end to this tunnel, but you’ll be happy to denote that doctors can today prescribe medication known as a thiourea drug that will reduce the output of hormone from the thyroid. This starts off at quite a high dose, and gradually comes down slowly once the blood test returns to normal. Usually most people are able to come off the tablets after a year or two, but sometimes the tablets need to be continued for longer, or restarted. Of course there is no stipulated time zone that can assure that this sort of a thyroid condition may occur in your lifetime, but the good part is that it can now be treated.

Sometimes your doctor may prescribe another type of medication, a beta-blocker, to overcome some of the worst symptoms of an over-active thyroid gland, while waiting for the specific treatment for the thyroid to take its effect. For most people with thyrotoxicosis all that is required is treatment to reduce the excessive levels of thyroid hormone.

Follow up
After the acute period of this condition, when you may have frequent blood tests, it is important to have a blood test done at regular intervals, as recommended by your doctor. This is to make sure that you do not develop an over active thyroid again, and also because many people who have thyrotoxicosis later develop an under active thyroid gland (hypothyroidism), because if that be the case, then the war doesn’t really end there. So it’s better you have regular check-ups, from time to time.