The thyroid gland is a small organ located on the neck and playing an important role in the work of the human body. The thyroid gland is responsible for the production of two major hormones - triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), which control the formation and use of cell energy. To produce thyroxine, a certain amount of iodine is needed, a deficiency of which occurs when it is insufficiently supplied with food and from the environment. This problem can cause an enlarged thyroid gland and other manifestations of its dysfunction.
Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism
With excessive secretion of hormones, a person develops hyperthyroidism. Insufficient production of thyroid hormones leads to hypothyroidism, or an enlargement of the thyroid gland. In the treatment of all thyroid diseases, the supervision of an endocrinologist is mandatory.
An enlarged thyroid gland is a term that reflects only a symptom, but not a morphological characteristic of a disease. Clinical and laboratory tests are performed to make a diagnosis.
Varieties of goiter
Sometimes, with diseases of the thyroid gland, no changes in its functioning are observed, but often the body somehow responds to these problems. An enlarged thyroid gland may be partial or complete. Depending on this, distinguish nodular or diffuse goiter, respectively. The following diseases are accompanied by goiter:
- diffuse goiter or Graves-Bazedov disease ;
- endemic goiter (euthyroid) is caused by a lack of iodine in the environment;
- goiter, which is provoked by the use of thyreostatic drugs and harmful food additives;
- benign thyroid tumor, the so-called adenoma;
- thyroiditis, or Hashimoto's goiter;
- thyroid cancer.
Thyroid enlargement, treatment
When diagnosing diseases of the thyroid gland, ultrasound is always performed and the level of hormones not only of the thyroid gland, but also of the pituitary gland is determined.
In the treatment of all these diseases, iodine deficiency is eliminated in the first place. To do this, special preparations are introduced into the patient’s body, created from the hormones of slaughter cattle, which are able to positively affect the state of the body by regulating metabolic processes.
Symptoms of pathology
The thyroid gland is one of the endocrine glands involved in maintaining homeostasis.
An enlarged thyroid gland extremely negatively affects the state of the body and human behavior. Patients are apathetic, slow, swollen and obese, they have increased sensitivity to cold and temperature changes. Most often they have low blood pressure, constipation, swelling, memory and hearing are impaired.
An enlarged thyroid gland can lead to compression and some deformation of the neck, a change in the position of the esophagus and trachea. The patient complains of shortness of breath, sometimes a violation of the swallowing process. Lymphatic and blood vessels are also compressed, and therefore blood supply worsens and blood outflow is impaired.
From this it follows that with an enlarged thyroid gland, the clinical picture depends on the degree of its increase. In order to determine the condition of the patient, a special scale is used:
I degree - enlargement of the gland can be determined by palpation;
II degree - an increase is diagnosed when swallowing eyeballs;
III degree - an increase in the gland is noticeable at rest;
IV degree - giant goiter.
Diffuse enlargement of the thyroid gland is manifested by emotional instability, sweating, tachycardia, weakness, weight loss. In severe cases, this pathology can also be manifested by a violation of the liver, myocardium, and kidneys.