Hashimoto’s Disease: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment -

The human body consists of different body parts and glands. Out of all other glands, the thyroid gland is one of the major glands in the human body. It is basically present in front of the neck. The hormones of this gland control almost all other functions of the body. Moreover, it boosts the energy level of our body as well. Sometimes, a person suffers from some immune system disorders. As a result, the immune system directly attacks the thyroid gland of that person. Due to which there is a decrease in the production of thyroid hormones. This disease is basically known as Hashimoto’s disease. In this article, we are going to discuss the symptoms, causes, diagnosis, and treatment of Hashimoto’s disease.

Basically, another name of this disease is hypothyroidism. This disease also affects the proper functioning of the heart. Mostly it occurs in women of middle age. However, there are equal chances of its occurrence in every man, woman, and children. It is not a dangerous disease. So, let’s see what are the major causes of Hashimoto’s disease.

Causes of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

Basically, it is a naturally occurring disease. There are not any confirm causes of Hashimoto’s disease. But there are many other things that play a role in this see. So, let’ see what are those factors cause Hashimoto’s disease.

Genes

Genes play an important role in the transfer of some diseases. Basically, every person gets genes from its parents. Sometimes, the diseases may come along with genes. So, if the parents of any person suffering from this disease, there are maximum chances that their gene causes Hashimoto’s disease in their children.

Hormones

Sometimes, this disease may occur due to hormonal changes. Some women having thyroids issues may also suffer from this disease. Like, if any woman has thyroid issues in pregnancy, she may suffer from this disease, later in her life.

Excessive iodine

As we all know that excess of everything is bad. The same is the case in this disease. Research shows that iodine plays a very important role in making thyroid hormones. Although, sometimes too much iodine in the body causes Hashimoto’s disease. But this condition did not happen in every person. Some people may not get this disease if their body produces too much iodine.

Radiation exposure

Basically, everything left its side effects on our bodies. Most people suffer from some serious diseases like cancer. They have to go through radiation for treatment. These radiations help them to treat cancer. However, this radiation causes some other problems. Hashimoto’s disease is one of these problems.

Symptoms of Hashimoto’s disease

The symptoms of Hashimoto’s disease do not appear immediately. Sometimes, you may feel a simple swelling in the throat. But you do not take it seriously. Basically, this disease occurs in a gradual manner. So, the symptoms of Hashimoto’s disease take time to appear. After some time, the following symptoms of Hashimoto’s disease start occurring:

A person feels fatigued and laziness in his body.
One of the major symptoms of Hashimoto’s disease is that a person feels a problem in eating and drinking cold things.
Some people may suffer from constipation in this situation.
The skin of the patient starts becoming dry and yellow in this situation.
A swollen face is also one of the major symptoms of Hashimoto’s disease.
The nails of the person start breaking in this situation.
Due to decreased energy levels in the body, the hair of the person starts falling in this disease.
Sometimes, it also affects the tongue of the patient. His/ her tongue starts becoming enlarge.
There is a sudden increase in weight in this situation.
The muscles and joints of the patient become so weak. Sometimes, there occurs a stiffness in the muscles of the patient.
In women, extreme bleeding during periods is also one of the major symptoms of Hashimoto’s disease.
This disease makes a person irritated. Due to which, it may cause depression in some situations.
The patient starts forgetting things about this disease.

When to see a doctor

To visit a doctor on time is much better than the situation gets serious. Sometimes, we do not take things seriously, due to which they cause more problems. So, in this case, a patient must visit a doctor, if he/she had any surgery in the past. As we already discussed that radioactive treatments cause this disease. So, a person should go to the doctor if he has gone through any radioactive treatment and feels symptoms of this disease. This disease sometimes causes a high blood cholesterol level. So, if the patient is facing any issue of high blood cholesterol, he/she must go to the doctor. If any person is using home remedies for a thyroid problem, he/she should go to the doctor to know is everything is fine or not. So, visiting a doctor is very necessary for all these situations.

Risk factors

Risk factors are basically those factors that increase the chance of getting any disease. Every disease has some risk factors. We should try to avoid them to stay away from different diseases. In the case of this disease, the following are the major risk factors:

Gender

Gender is very important in this disease. Research shows that women are more susceptible to this disease than men. So, they should be careful regarding this disease.

Age

Basically, it may occur at any part of age. But there are maximum chances of this disease in middle age.

Heredity

If the parents of any person suffering from this disease, it will be a risk factor for him/her. As we know that this disease may transfer through genes.

Other Autoimmune Diseases

Basically, this is an autoimmune disease. So, if the person already suffers from some autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes, the chance of getting this disease also increases.

Complications

Hashimoto’s disease is basically not a serious disease if you go for its treatment on time. If you do not take it seriously and do not go for treatment, it may cause some complications.

Goiter

This is a condition in which the thyroid gland becomes large in size than normal. It occurs when there is a continuous release of hormones from the thyroid. This condition of goiter generally does not cause serious issues. Although, a patient feels difficulty in eating and drinking.

Heart problems

This disease may also cause serious heart issues due to the formation of bad cholesterol. The name of that bad cholesterol is low-density lipoprotein. Basically, the bad cholesterol starts forming if you do not treat this disease on time. It may also result in the failure of the heart in some situations.

Mental health issues

As we already discussed that this disease causes depression in most of the patients. But if you do not go for its treatment on time, it may start affecting your mental health. It may also decrease the desire for sex in both men and women.

Birth defects

Healthy women give birth to healthy babies. Moreover, the ladies who suffer from this disease, give birth to babies with some defects naturally. Mostly, such babies face problems in their development. They may also suffer from some intellectual problems. There is also a connection of this disease with the heart, brain, and kidney problems in newborn babies. So, if you are pregnant, must go for the checkup of thyroid levels.

Diagnosis of Hashimoto’s disease

The diagnosis of Hashimoto’s disease is very necessary for its treatment. As we know that we cannot go for the treatment of any disease without its diagnosis. If you feel any symptoms of Hashimoto’s disease, you must go for its treatment immediately. For the diagnosis of Hashimoto’s disease, the doctor first checks the levels of thyroid hormone and thyroid-stimulating hormone through some blood tests. These tests include:

A hormone tests

The doctor basically checks the number of hormones through the blood test. The blood test helps the doctor to check the number of hormones produced by the thyroid gland. In addition to simple hormones, the doctor also checks the amount of thyroid-stimulating hormone in the blood as well. If the level of thyroid-stimulating hormone is high in the blood, the doctor gets confirm about this disease. In this way, this test helps in the diagnosis of Hashimoto’s disease.

An antibody tests

There is an abnormal production of antibodies in this test. So, to get confirmation the doctor mostly goes for the antibody test. In this test, the doctor takes the blood from the patient. Then he finds whether there are any antibodies producing against the thyroid hormones. However, some people with this disease may not have any antibodies. So, this is not a confirmatory test in the diagnosis of Hashimoto’s disease.

Treatment of Hashimoto’s disease

The treatment of Hashimoto’s disease is not complex. If the patient suffers from a minor problem, then the doctor suggests a wait and see approach technique for the treatment of Hashimoto’s disease. However, if the situation gets worse, then in this situation the doctor suggests some medicines for the treatment of Hashimoto’s disease. Although, once the patient starts taking medicines, he/she has to take them for the whole life. Moreover, the doctor suggests the following medication for the treatment of Hashimoto’s disease:

Synthetic hormones

If the cause of this disease is thyroid hormone deficiency, then the doctor suggests the synthetic hormones for its treatment. Basically, the hormonal medicine used for this purpose is levothyroxine. It is similar to thyroxine. Thyroxin hormone is basically produced in a natural way by our thyroid gland. Sometimes, simple oral medications maintain the level of hormone in the thyroid gland. In this situation, there is no need for special medicines.

Monitoring the dosage

The intake amount of levothyroxine is very important. To get an idea about its right dosage, the doctor checks the level of thyroid-stimulating hormone almost after 2 months of treatment. When the doctor gets an idea about the normal dose, the doctor then checks the level of your thyroid-stimulating hormone after one year. Basically, the reason behind checking the dosage is to get an idea of whether there is any need for change in dosage or not. A large amount of thyroid hormone results in bone problems like osteoporosis. Furthermore, over-dosage of levothyroxine may also cause heart problems.

Similarly, if a patient suffers from coronary artery disease, then in this situation the doctor gives a small dosage at the start. A gradual increase in dosage helps the heart to adjust to the metabolism of patient.

Prevention of Hashimoto’s Disease

This disease occurs naturally, so there is not any specific prevention of this disease. All you can do is to go for its treatment as soon as possible.

Conclusion

Hashimoto’s disease is basically an autoimmune disease and its symptoms and causes vary from person to person. Basically, this disease weakens our immune system problem in the thyroid gland causes this disease. Hashimoto’s disease is not as serious if you go for its treatment immediately after its diagnosis. So, if you feel any symptom, do not wait for it to get worse. Visit your doctor as soon as possible.