Thyroid Problems Kill Your Weight Loss Plan

A person's health can be dramatically affected by a thyroid disease. This condition can only be analyzed by specific blood tests because thyroid symptoms can be similar to those found in different health conditions.

The thyroid is located in front of the windpipe and in the front of the neck. The reason why a person's weight may be affected by the thyroid is that the hormones produced by this organ impact the rate of energy usage by the body, hence the presence of higher or lower metabolic rates.

While not a common occurrence, thyroid activity can have a negative impact on a person's health, such as experienced when the individual's weight is affected.

The technical term for an overactive thyroid is hyperthyroidism and the opposite condition, or slow thyroid hormone levels is hypothyroidism.

When should you seek medical advice?

If you find that all your efforts at dieting produce no results, no matter how hard you try, you should consult with your doctor. Conversely, if you find yourself losing weight even though you are not on a diet, you should also seek medical help.

Your doctor will be looking at a variety of symptoms which will aid in determining the health of your thyroid, but ultimately relying on various blood tests to evaluate your thyroid activity level. In addition to weight changes, you should take note of feeling sluggish, feeling excessively cold, having dry skin or experiencing hair loss.

By contrast, an overactive thyroid will speed up your metabolism, making you feel too warm, and causing you to lose weight. Another symptom could be trembling hands and a pounding heart beat.

The pituitary gland controls the activity of the thyroid, causing it to increase or decrease the amount of thyroid hormone that goes into your blood stream.

The blood tests your doctor will order will allow him to determine how much thyroid hormone is being released into your system. The blood tests provide a reliable measure of your thyroid activity, and related thyroid problems.

The next step will be additional tests to pinpoint the causes of any abnormal thyroid activity.

Your doctor will also check for nodules on the thyroid gland and check to see if the thyroid is inflamed causing pain, or whether it feels hard.

Examining you for various symptoms can lead to a different diagnosis. Ultrasound imaging can show abnormalities in the thyroid, and when necessary a fine needle biopsy will be used to determine if nodules are benign or malignant. Nodules can be visually analyzed with the help of the ultrasound imaging.

This is just a brief overview of the complexity of dealing with thyroid problems, and it underscores the need to immediately consult with your physician if you suspect you are experiencing unusual symptoms as described above.

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