How to know if I have hyper or hypothyroidism: identify it by its symptoms

The island of temptations It is Mediaset's great entertainment bet and it is beyond entertainment this program has put an important topic on the table: the alteration of the operation of the thyroid gland. Since Susana Molina, ensure that thanks to his followers on social networks he had discovered that he could suffer from this disease, the Internet has only increased the search for symptoms.

That is why this time we will explain everything you need to know about hyper and hypothyroidism. If you think you can have it, we recommend that you go to a specialist as soon as possible.

In 2017 a study by the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition confirmed that a 10% of the Spanish population suffer some more or less serious alteration in the functioning of the thyroid gland and only half of these people are aware of it and therefore treat their disease. In figures we would say that almost five million people have problems with hyper or hypothyroidism in its different variants, but there are two and a half million who do not know it.

Let's start with the first:What is the thyroid gland?

The thyroid gland is a endocrine organ, and is the responsible for manufacturing different hormones. This is located above the clavicles and around the neck. The function of the thyroid gland is to produce hormones that largely regulate metabolism, as well as heart rate, circadian cycles, etc. In other words, important hormones for our physiology and our health. They also intervene in the regulation of stress, diuresis or the fixation of calcium and phosphorus in the bone.

The first thing to understand is that there are two types of thyroid-related diseases: hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. In the first case we refer to a poor functioning of the thyroid gland, which produces less hormones than necessary for the functioning of the body.

The symptoms of hypothyroidism They are mostly fatigue, the patient feels tired because his metabolism slows down and he barely gets the necessary energy from food. It also shows an increase in cold sensitivity It is difficult to regulate body temperature. Other symptoms are constipation, dry skin or weight gain

For the same reason the level of blood cholesterol is usually high in these people, while showing muscle weakness and joint pain. Having a very thin hair it may be another symptom, as well as a slow heart rate or brittle nails, also poor memory and it has even been shown that the hypothyroidism The tendency to depression increases. In extreme cases, swelling of the face and goiter may occur.

In the case of hyperthyroidismThe opposite is true: the gland works too much and fills the blood with thyroid hormones. In this case, instead of slowing down the metabolism it speeds it up excessively, increasing the hyperactivity and the anxiety in the person. It may be caused by the existence of benign tumors in the thyroid gland, an excess of iodine in the diet, a viral infection or being treated with thyroid hormones.

The most frequent symptoms of hyperthyroidism are nervousness and the uncontrollable anxiety, not motivated by traumas or difficult life circumstances. As a consequence, difficulty falling asleep occurs frequently, patients often lose weight quickly even though they have more appetite than normal and eat more. They also feel very weak and their hair falls out. There is also increased sweating and heart rate, as well as hand tremors.

Both, both the hiccups like hyperthyroidism, can be detected with a simple blood test where hormone levels will be studied TSH, T4 and T3. TSH is the hormone that stimulates the thyroid gland to work, and the other two are hormones produced by that gland. In general, or if you want roughly, a high level of TSH and low levels of T3 and T4 will indicate hypothyroidism. On the contrary, low levels of TSH and high levels of the other two hormones indicate hyperthyroidism. Both alterations have medical treatment, although their causes must be studied.