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What Are Thyroid Disorders?
Thyroid disorders are among the most common endocrine disorders. They include underactive thyroid, overactive thyroid, benign nodules, inflammations of the thyroid and malignant cancers.
Who Is Affected?
Approximately 12 million Americans are affected by thyroid disease. Thyroid diseases occur at least five times more often in women than in men, with hypothyroidism affecting approximately 10 percent of all women over age 65.
Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), the most common thyroid disorder, usually results from an autoimmune destructive process in the thyroid gland. One autoimmune thyroid disease, called postpartum thyroiditis, is common after delivery, occurring in about 6 percent of all pregnancies. Its early symptoms include nervousness, weight loss, diarrhea and palpitations and are followed a few months later by weight gain, dry skin, constipation and fatigue. The body usually returns to normal, but short-term therapy with thyroid hormone may be required.
Another example of an autoimmune thyroid disease is Graves' disease, which involves an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) and affects virtually all body organs, especially the heart and eyes. This disease received extensive media coverage when it was diagnosed in former President George and Barbara Bush.
Goiter, an enlargement of the thyroid gland, causes a swelling in the neck.
Thyroid cancer is less common than many other cancers, with 18,000 new cases annually in the United States. It is not as lethal as some other cancers, causing 1,200 deaths per year. However, benign thyroid growths are very common and it is important to distinguish them from cancers.
How Are these Disorders Being Diagnosed and Treated?
Fine needle aspiration biopsy, an office procedure, has been available for the past 10 years to 15 years, making it much easier to diagnose benign or malignant growths and to greatly reduce the number of thyroid operations.
The treatment of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism is straightforward once the disease is diagnosed, due to the great advances in testing and treatment resulting from endocrine research.
What Is the Role of Endocrinology?
Endocrinologists specialize in treating patients with over- or underproduction of thyroid hormones and work to optimize thyroid hormone replacement therapy. In addition, endocrinologists receive special training in managing patients with thyroid nodules, thyroid cancer and enlarged thyroids.
Although we have many proven methods to treat thyroid disorders, we do not yet fully understand the causes of benign and malignant goiter, autoimmune thyroid disease, and the troublesome problems of Graves' eye disease. Research focuses on many aspects of thyroid disorders. There are exciting new studies investigating the causes of thyroid cancer. A new synthetic hormone preparation has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for surveillance of patients with thyroid cancer following initial surgery. This is just one example of how endocrine research forms the basis for advances in treatment. Because thyroid disorders are so common, they serve as an ideal model for bringing the discoveries of the laboratory to the care of millions of patients.
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