Symptoms of hyperthyroidism
The most prominent symptoms include the following:
1. Common symptoms
Hyperthyroidism can affect other health problems, which may make it difficult for your doctor to diagnose as it can also cause a variety of signs and symptoms, including:
Unintentional weight loss, even when your appetite and food intake remain the same or increase.
Rapid heartbeat such as tachycardia, usually more than 100 beats per minute.
Arrhythmia.
palpitation.
Increased appetite.
Nervousness, anxiety and irritability.
Tremor, which is usually a slight tremor in your hands and fingers.
sweating.
Changes in menstrual patterns.
Increased sensitivity to heat.
Changes in bowel patterns, especially frequent bowel movements.
Goiter, which may appear as a swelling at the base of your neck.
Fatigue and muscle weakness.
Difficulty sleeping.
Thinning of the skin.
Soft and brittle hair.
2. Symptoms that appear in the elderly
Older people are more likely to suffer from the following:
Increased heart rate.
Heat intolerance.
Tendency to feel tired during normal activities.
3. Symptoms related to Graves' ophthalmopathy Sometimes an uncommon problem called Graves' ophthalmopathy may affect your eyes, especially if you smoke. This disorder causes your eyeballs to protrude outside their normal protective orbits when the tissues and muscles behind your eyes swell. Eye problems often improve without treatment.
Signs and symptoms of Graves' ophthalmopathy include:
Dry eyes.
Red or puffy eyes.
Excessive tears or discomfort in one or both eyes.
Sensitivity to light.
Blurry or double vision.
inflammation.
Lack of eye movement.
Protruding eyeballs.
Causes and risk factors of hyperthyroidism
The following is an explanation of the most prominent causes and risk factors for hyperthyroidism:
1. Causes of hyperthyroidism
Includes the following:
Graves' disease
It is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the thyroid gland and causes it to release too many hormones. This is the most common cause.
Thyroid nodules
These are tumors in the thyroid gland that are usually benign and not cancerous, but they may become overactive and produce too much thyroid hormone. Thyroid nodules are more common in older people.
Thyroiditis
Thyroiditis causes stored thyroid hormone to be released from the thyroid gland.
Too much iodine
Iodine is found in some medications, cough syrups, seaweed and supplements containing seaweed, taking too much of which can cause your thyroid to produce too much thyroid hormone.
Too many thyroid medications
This can happen if people taking thyroid hormone medication to treat hypothyroidism or underactive thyroid take too much of it.
2. Risk factors for hyperthyroidism
The most prominent risk factors include the following:
Family history, especially Graves' disease.
Female sex.
Personal history of some chronic diseases, such as: type 1 diabetes, pernicious anemia, and primary adrenal insufficiency.
Complications of hyperthyroidism
The most common complications include:
1. Heart diseases
Some of the most serious complications of hyperthyroidism include the heart. These include:
Increased heart rate: A heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation that increases the risk of stroke.
Congestive heart failure: A condition in which your heart cannot circulate enough blood to meet your body's needs.
2. Osteoporosis
Untreated hyperthyroidism can also lead to weak and brittle bones. The strength of your bones depends in part on the amount of calcium and other minerals they contain, as too much parathyroid hormone interferes with your body's ability to incorporate calcium into your bones.
3. Eye problems
People with Graves' ophthalmopathy have eye problems, including puffy, red or swollen eyes, sensitivity to light, and blurred or double vision, and severe, untreated eye problems can lead to vision loss.
4. Skin redness and swelling
In rare cases, people with Graves' disease develop Graves' dermopathy, which affects the skin, causing redness and swelling, mostly on the legs and feet.
5. Thyrotoxic crisis
Hyperthyroidism also puts you at risk of a thyrotoxic crisis, which is a sudden worsening of symptoms, leading to fever, rapid pulse, and even delirium. If this occurs, seek immediate medical care.
Diagnosis of hyperthyroidism
The most prominent diagnostic methods include the following:
1. Physical test
During the physical exam, your health care provider will gently feel your neck to check the size of your thyroid gland. This is a simple, quick procedure that can be done in your provider's office. The provider will also examine your eyes, heart and skin.
2. Blood tests
Your health care provider may take a blood sample to look for high levels of thyroid hormone. This is called a thyroid function test. When you have hyperthyroidism, your levels of thyroid hormones are higher than normal and your thyroid-stimulating hormone levels are lower than normal.
3. Imaging tests
Taking a look at your thyroid can help diagnose hyperthyroidism and the possible cause, as your doctor can use some tests to check your thyroid.
One test called a thyroid scan and a radioactive iodine uptake test, a thyroid scan uses small amounts of radioactive material to create images of the thyroid gland.
Another test is a thyroid ultrasound. An ultrasound is a non-invasive procedure that allows your provider to look at your thyroid on a screen. This test is used if your provider is looking for thyroid nodules.
Treatment of hyperthyroidism
Treatment methods include the following:
1. Antithyroid medications
These medications inhibit the ability of the thyroid gland to produce hormones, as it provides rapid control of the thyroid gland.
2. Radioactive iodine
Radioactive iodine is taken orally and enlarges the thyroid gland. Radioactive iodine damages these cells, causing the mammary gland to become enlarged and enlarged over the course of a few weeks.
This causes thyroid activity to accelerate, which leads to treatment of hyperthyroidism, as it results in most patients who receive this treatment, and after normal growth hormone matures.
3. Work
Your health care provider monitors your hypogonadism during any adenomatous surgery, which improves the operation of the prostate glands, but we lead to hypothyroidism any adenomatous gland.
Patients undergoing goiter surgery should take natural cancer supplements and bioidentical hormones.
4. Beta trapping
These medications work by not regulating the work of the thyroid gland in the body, as the amount of various hormones in your blood does not change, and they can help monitor the symptoms of cancer, such as: rapid heartbeat, nervousness, and shaking caused by the overactivity of the tumor.
This natural treatment is neither used nor controlled unless it is paired with another long-term hyperthyroidism treatment option.
