Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.
I’m going to start a series of articles relating to the
thyroid. I’ve always found endocrinology to be a difficult subject for me to
comprehend even at a basic level. It takes a special doctor to be able to learn
and remember all the functions of the body’s endocrine system. I am not that
guy, but we can still take a closer look at the thyroid and learn some basic
facts and how to apply them.
The thyroid is one of the largest endocrine glands in the
body and has some impact on every cell in your body. The greatest job of the
thyroid is regulating your metabolism and weight by controlling the fat burning
process. The thyroid hormones are also necessary for growth and development in
children and nearly every physiological process of the body. Too much or too little
of these hormones can mean trouble for your overall health and well-being.
Research shows that 10 to 40 percent of the population has
suboptimal thyroid function. An estimated one in eight women aged 35 to 65 has
some form of thyroid disease. More than 25% of perimenopausal women have
hypothyroidism, or too little thyroid production. Females are three times more
likely to develop thyroid cancer than males.
The thyroid gland is a butterfly shaped gland found at the
front of your neck under the voice box. It has two lobes located at each side
of the windpipe, connected by a piece of tissue called the isthmus.
The hormones produced are called master hormones because
they control many other hormones that affect all cells of the body. The thyroid
hormones interact with insulin, cortisol, estrogen, progesterone and
testosterone to name a few. The fact that all these are linked so closely
together and necessarily have constant communication explains why any
interruption in function of the thyroid has wide ranging health effects.
There are three types of hormones made by the thyroid. The
largest percentage is in the form of T4, the inactive form. Your liver converts
T4 into the active T3 form with help from other enzymes. T4 is short for Thyroxine.
T3 refers to Triiodothyronine and T2 is Diiodotyronine. T2 is the least
understood of the three.
T3 is important because it tells the nucleus of your cells
to send messages to you DNA to increase your metabolism by burning fat. That is
why T3 lowers cholesterol, regrows hair and helps keep you lean.
There are three common terms associated with the thyroid;
hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s disease. Hyperthyroidism means
the thyroid is over producing hormones, it is not that common. Hypothyroidism
is the most common condition and is under production of the hormones.
Hashimoto’s is a disease, where the other two are conditions. It is also known
as Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, autoimmune thyroiditis or chronic lymphocytic
thyroiditis, and is an autoimmune disease. In Hashimoto’s, antibodies react
against proteins in the thyroid gland, causing gradual destruction of the gland
itself, and making the gland unable to produce hormones. It results in
hypothyroidism.
In the next article, we will cover some of the disruptors of
thyroid function.