What foods do we eat, what water do we drink, what air do we breathe every day? How many people today are asking this question? It's not even that poor-quality food or air polluted with toxins can poison our body, the fact is that with a deficiency of certain substances, vitamins and trace elements, states that we often don’t even suspect are present.
The thyroid gland is one of the most sensitive endocrine organs. She is responsible for energy and mineral metabolism in the body. Violation of its function is often directly associated with deficient conditions in the body, and specifically with iodine deficiency.
Goiter is the common name for a group of thyroid pathologies that are characterized by its increase in size. Endemic colloid goiter of the thyroid gland occurs with iodine deficiency in the body, because a trace element is part of the hormone of the gland - thyroxine. Its absence in the blood leads to a decrease in its function (hypothyroidism). At the onset of the disease, the level of thyroxine may even increase, but over time, if treatment is not carried out, its deficiency still arises.
An increase in the size of the gland arises as a result of the following processes in it:
- increased accumulation in the follicles of colloidal fluid (colloidal goiter of the thyroid gland);
- reproduction of follicular cells (parenchymal goiter).
Endemic goiter, symptoms
Among diseases with a reverse development, the most common is the endemic goiter of the thyroid gland, the symptoms of which quickly disappear if you use iodine preparations or follow a diet enriched with seafood.
Often, thyroid goiter does not immediately manifest its symptoms . General weakness, headache, obesity - are unremarkable at the onset of the disease and do not attract attention. In childhood, goiter is more dangerous and quickly manifests itself in the form of cretinism (delayed development of the child, both mental and physical). In adolescents, there is a delay in sexual development.
Women may experience gynecological diseases that accompany thyroid goiter. Infertility treatment lasts for years, while the true reason is the lack of thyroxine in the body.
Thickening of the neck, hoarseness and difficulty in swallowing by most people are perceived as symptoms of a cold or allergy, they get used to them and eventually cease to pay attention. But just such signs are the main clinical manifestations of goiter.
Diagnosis of iodine deficiency goiter
Determine the level of iodine in the blood or urine using special laboratory tests. Also, to clarify the diagnosis of “goiter of the thyroid gland”, the symptoms of which are similar to other diseases of the endocrine system, it is possible to conduct an ultrasound of the organ with a fine needle biopsy. This method allows you to accurately determine the degree and severity of the course of the disease.
Endemic nodular goiter of the thyroid gland, symptoms at which is associated with hypothyroidism, is always accompanied by an increase in the level of pituitary thyrotropin in the blood, therefore the determination of this hormone in the blood can be used as an important diagnostic criterion for the disease.
Thyroid goiter, treatment
Therapy of endemic goiter is carried out with iodine preparations (antistramin, iodomarin, iodofol), for adults the daily dose is about 150 micrograms, and for children it depends on the age and degree of cretinism. The large size of the goiter, which violate the function of other organs or the formation of nodes in the thyroid gland, may be indications for surgical removal of part or all of the organ. After surgery, the patient should be on hormone replacement therapy for life.