Understanding Hyperthyroidism: Causes, Symptoms, and Management

What is it?

The Thyroid is a gland located at the middle of your neck, below Adam’s apple. It produces a hormone called the Thyroid Hormone, which controls your body’s use of energy.
When your gland produces too much thyroid hormone, it is called Hyperthyroidism. It can make you feel tired, anxious, and shaky.
An untreated overactive gland may lead to an irregular fast heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, and even heart failure.
If you have a known condition of hyperthyroidism, and your feel dizzy, short of breath, or have a fast irregular heartbeat, you should seek medical attention urgently.

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Additional names

This group contains additional names:
- Thyrotoxicosis with or without goiter
- Thyrotoxicosis
- Toxic Uninodular Goiter

Signs & symptoms

Other than anxiety and tiredness, you may experience hard time falling asleep and rapid heartbeat.
Other symptoms include weight loss even though your appetite is increased, inability to concentrate, diarrhea and difficulty coping with hot weather.

Diagnosis

Physical exam: your doctor will examine your thyroid gland, and look for a rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, or protruding eyes. He will ask about signs of overactive thyroid glands such as excessive sweating, hair loss, weight loss, and diarrhea.
Blood tests:
Thyroid function tests- TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone), T3, T4, freeT4 (thyroid hormones).
In the case of hyperthyroidism, your T4 and T3 levels will be high, and your TSH level will usually be below.
If the results will show an overactive thyroid gland, your doctor may run a few more tests, such as cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Ultrasound of your gland, to measure its size and check for masses.
Thyroid scan can check if your whole gland is overactive or just one part.

Treatment

The treatment may include:
- Medication to balance your thyroid function, and Beta-blockers to reduce symptoms.
- Radioactive iodine- you will swallow a pill that contains radioactive iodine that will travel to your thyroid and destroy it.
- Surgery is rarely indicated.

☝️ This is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making any medical decision.

Learn more about our editorial process for content accuracy.

Source of Information - We analyze big data of more than 23 million patients de-identified medical records from the following sources:

National Institution of Health ∙ World Health Organization ∙ University of Illinois hospital