Thyroid...
Thyroid is a gland shaped like a butterfly, located under the skin in front of the neck. To find it - just touch your throat in the adam's apple area with one finger and top of your breastbone - the flat bone that runs down in the middle of the chest - with another finger. The thyroid gland is located in the small space in between your two fingers. It moves up and down when you swallow. It is just two inch in size and weighs less than an ounce.
The thyroid gland produces special chemical called harmones and releases them to blood stream - T3 ( triiodothyronine) and T4 ( thyroxine) . All the cells in the body need these harmones to work efficiently. These harmones regulate our metabolism.
Thyroid gland works like a thermostat in our body. If thyroid gland is too active, it produces too much T3 and T4. These harmones control the body's chemical function, or the rhythm at which they work. This is called the metabolic rate. They influence our metabolism in two ways - 1) they stimulate almost every tissue to produce proteins and 2) they also increase our cells usage of oxygen. In addition, they also regulate heart and respiratory rates, control skin function, growth , heat production, fertility and digestion.
The thyroid gland needs iodine present in food and water to produce two harmones. Any imbalance of two harmones can trigger thyroid disorders.
Hyper thyroidism - results from excess T3 and T4. This causes weight loss, tremors, severe weakness, excessive sweating, lack of tolerance for heat, palpitation etc.
Hypothyroidism - condition in which body lacks sufficient thyroid harmones leading to low metabolic rate, weight disorders, sleepiness and labored speech etc. The main symptoms are - tired feeling or ethargy, physical and mental sluggishness, hair loss, loss of sensation.
Causes of Thyroid problem
- Deficiency of iodine, B- vitamins and certain minerals
- environmental toxins
- Agricultural sprays
- Radiation
- Antibiotic overuse, steriods more