![]() Women can develop heavy periods or they may lose them altogether. The symptoms of hypothyroidism can include tiredness, weight gain, feeling the cold, slowing down physically and mentally, dry skin, loss of hair, muscle cramps and muscle weakness, puffiness around the eyes, gruff voice, depression, hearing loss and constipation. ![]() This causes confusion and sometimes a wrong belief that a person with otherwise unexplained symptoms must have hypothyroidism. Surveys of normal populations have shown that up to a third of all people experience symptoms similar to that of hypothyroidism. The symptoms of hypothyroidism are not specific. For instance, hypothyroidism in a child may cause poor growth. ![]() This can be from a matter of days to years. For example, in some cases the thyroid is completely unable to produce thyroid hormones while in others it can produce some, but not enough for the body’s needs.Īnother reason for the symptoms being so different is the speed at which the hypothyroidism develops. To some extent these differences can be explained by how severe the hypothyroidism is. Some people may have very few symptoms, while others are severely affected. The symptoms of hypothyroidism vary greatly from one person to another. What are the signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism? Rarely, hypothyroidism can be caused by certain medications (for example lithium and amiodarone) or diseases of the pituitary gland. Other less common causes of hypothyroidism are due to iodine deficiency (iodine is an essential component of thyroid hormones), excessive dose of medications used to treat hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid gland), destruction of the thyroid gland following treatment with radioactive iodine, and surgical removal of the thyroid gland. Interestingly, in people with autoimmune hypothyroidism the body’s immune system otherwise functions normally, including still being able to fight infection. This means the body’s immune system mistakenly recognises its own thyroid gland as a foreign body, and therefore attacks and damages it, in some cases destroying it. People with subclinical hypothyroidism usually do not have symptoms, but a significant proportion will develop hypothyroidism in the future. ‘Subclinical or mild hypothyroidism’ refers to a condition when the thyroid hormone levels in the blood are within the normal range but the thyroid gland has to work much harder than usual to maintain these levels. Hypothyroidism is a disease that develops when the thyroid gland is unable to produce sufficient thyroid hormones. X-ray of the hands of a six year old with hypothyroidism: growth of the left index finger has been stunted.
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