Thyroid Balance by Glenn S. Rothfeld & Deborah S. Romaine

Author:Glenn S. Rothfeld & Deborah S. Romaine.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Adams Media, Inc.
Published: 2003-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

• Tumors, particularly the rare tumors that are precancerous or cancerous

• Some toxic nodules

• Graves’ disease that is producing severe symptoms at the time of diagnosis

• Graves’ disease when you are under age 25, or when you want to become pregnant (in which case radiation therapy and drug therapy are too risky).

• Large goiters that interfere with swallowing or breathing

In other situations, surgery becomes an option when drug therapy (including radioactive iodine) fails. Nearly always, you must be euthyroid—at normal blood thyroid levels—before surgery. So doctors often prescribe drug therapy to suppress hyperthyroidism before doing surgery.

Thyroidectomy is done under general anesthesia. The surgeon makes an incision across the base of your neck, running the same direction as your collarbone and in a slight upward curve. This follows the natural lines and folds of your skin, so that after the incision fully heals, the scar is barely noticeable. Most people stay in the hospital for no longer than a few days, and can return to normal activities within two weeks. After partial thyroidectomy your blood thyroid levels might stay normal, although many people find that their levels decrease over time until hypothyroidism sets in. Hypothyroidism is certain after total thyroidectomy, and your doctor will start you on thyroid hormone replacement immediately after surgery. Except for hypothyroidism, and the usual risks of surgery, there are no long-term adverse effects from thyroidectomy.

TEMPORARY HYPERTHYROIDISM:

REMOVING THE CAUSE

Sometimes environmental causes set up the situation of overactive thyroid. You can get too much iodine if you are taking thyroid hormone supplement to treat underactive thyroid and through dietary sources. Kelp and other kinds of seaweed, common in many dietary supplements, are high in iodine. Some people can handle extra dietary iodine without any untoward effects. In most people, their thyroid glands behave more like children gobbling candy—they continue to take in as much as is available, resulting in churning out far more thyroid hormone (T3 and T4) than the body needs.

As well, some dietary supplements promoted for weight loss, chronic tiredness, and “thyroid health” contain small amounts of desiccated thyroid extract as a “tonic.” If you have an underactive thyroid, or the symptoms of underactive thyroid with normal lab results, you might be taking these supplements to boost your thyroid function. But it’s easy to get too much of a good thing, particularly since government regulations for consistency of ingredients is far less stringent for nutritional products than for drugs. Such supplements are especially likely to cause problems if you are taking thyroid hormone supplement to treat underactive thyroid, leading to overdosing that results in overactive thyroid.

Some drugs interfere with thyroid function and create hyperthyroidism. The list of these is long, but includes certain drugs to treat conditions such as irregular heart rhythms and asthma, and even hormones such as birth control pills. For more about these kinds of interactions, see Chapter 13.

Fortunately it’s easy for doctors to determine whether overactive thyroid is endogenous (caused by factors within your body) or environmental (caused by factors outside your body, such as foods or drugs).

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