The great philosopher Confucius once said,

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.”

Confucius was addressing the virtue of ignorance inherent in all human beings. It is this ignorance which also leads us to the crux of our topic of today – thyroid disorder.

Before we delve into the topic of thyroid disorder, let’s have a look at what it is all about.

Thyroid disorder is one of the most common form of endocrine disorders worldwide. But the disorder is often ignored for its generic symptoms. Mild weight gain along with lethargy, tiredness, constipation, hair loss often gets easily ignored for its association with ageing, stress or lifestyle changes. If we take a look at the statistics, it is alarming and downright shocking. The prevalence of thyroid disorder is 11% of the population in India. Of this, 76% of the people remain unaware and are hence undiagnosed. Thyroweight (weight gain and lethargy) is the most common symptom one must watch out for before undergoing a thyroid disorder diagnosis.

But do we know anything about this thing called thyroid inside us?

Let’s meet our thyroids before going ahead.

The thyroid gland is a butterfly shaped organ located on the front side of your neck, along the windpipe.

The function of the thyroid gland is to make essential thyroid hormones:

What do these hormones do?

1. They affect our body’s metabolic rate. This means they affect how fast or slow our body functions.
2. They also influence growth, development and reproduction.

What happens when our thyroids display abnormal functioning?

This can lead to 2 scenarios-

1. Hypothyroidism – insufficient thyroid hormone production
2. Hyperthyroidism – excess thyroid hormone production

Now, that’s not it.

1 in 10 adults in the study population had hypothyroidism.

Adults in the age group of 35 above were at a higher risk of hypothyroidism.

A staggering 8 million obese/overweight females were completely unaware/undiagnosed.

Let’s now have a look at the 7 eye opening truths about thyroid disorder

Truths about thyroid disorder

1. Once you get thyroid disorder, it is forever, is a myth

Hypothyroidism is incurable but it is treatable and in most cases controllable.

2. Small weight gain has a correlation with thyroid disorder

Small weight gain, tiredness and thyroid disorder share a strong association. This is where the ignorance and negligence of the Indian homemaker comes to light. These are the most common symptoms and usually ignored.

3. Thyroxine replacements are safe.

Any adverse reaction associated with Thyroxine therapy are due to therapeutic overdose. Doctor’s consultation is very essential in such cases.

4. Thyroid patients with obesity can lose weight.

Hypothyroidism can cause a mild weight gain of 5-9.7 kgs. but it does not cause obesity.

5. Thyroid has no role to play in children

Thyroid hormone is essential for the brain to develop in a normal manner. In a healthy pregnancy, the mother’s thyroid supplies the developing baby with thyroid.

6. Weight gain can be thyro-weight

All women must consider small weight gain as possible thyro-weight. It is important to be able to learn to differentiate normal weight gain to thyro-weight.

7. Medication plays an important role

You must consult a doctor if you experience any of the symptoms. It is essential that you take the medication as per the directions of your doctor. Not only that, you should not skip your medicine course. Neither should you change either the brand or the dosage of the medicine.

For more information please visit http://thyroidindia.com/thyroweight/

So, how should you go about in the detection process?

The Thyroid Function Test (also called the TSH) is the most common test to detect thyroid disorders.

Juhi Chawla, popular Bollywood actress, made her stance very clear about thyroid disorder. At a recent conference on thyroid awareness in Mumbai, she appealed to the audience. Her appeal was simple – be selfish for your health. If you are not healthy, then how can you take care of your family.

The most important aspect about thyroid disorder is negligence. All it needs is a little test to find out whether you have thyroid disorder or not. With the proper consultation, this disorder is controllable.

As Virginia Woolf states,

“To enjoy freedom, we have to control ourselves.”

 

[Disclaimer: I attended a discussion on thyroid awareness facilitated by Abbott India Limited. Any opinion expressed in this blog is my personal opinion and not the opinion of Abbott India Limited. Abbott India Limited does not assume any liability for the content of the blog. The blog post is not meant to be a replacement for a doctor consultation, nor is it a medical recommendation or prescription of treatment for people having thyroid problems. Any reader of this blog suffering from thyroid problems should specifically consult his/her doctor for the same and follow the suggested course of treatment.]