Thyroid Symptoms in Women

A thyroid that is underproducing thyroid hormone is termed hypothyroidism. It is characterized by insufficient levels of the primary thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). Thyroxine is transformed into it's active form of triiodothyronine by the liver.

Women are much more likely than men to have thyroid dysfunction -- as many as 10-20% of women and 1-2% of men may have symptoms of thyroid problems. One type of thyroid dysfunction is the condition called hypothyroidism, also referred to as low thyroid or underactive thyroid. When thyroid function is too sluggish, one effect is that the body's metabolism slows down more than it should. Much less common are thyroid symptoms caused by hyperthyroidism or an overactive thyroid.

Sadly it cannot always be easy to find out for sure if your thyroid is causing the symptoms that you are experiencing. This is because general medical knowledge about the thyroid is extremely limited. This complex and important gland, that hold sway over so many vital body functions is given only short shrift in medical studies, and as part of the 'endocrine system' it falls to the relatively few Endocrinologist specialists to be the font of knowledge about the diseases of the thyroid. Even more sadly, the state of knowledge about how the endocrine system works and just what might impact on it is still very much a work in progress and finding an open minded and truly informed endocrine specialist is potentially a very rare possibility.

Two of the most prominent symptoms that people experience are fatigue and low energy levels. Other symptoms also include constipation, depression, muscle weakness, dry skin, puffiness, hoarseness, abnormal sensitivity to the cold, joint stiffness, weight gain, and higher cholesterol levels. It could also cause menstrual irregularities in women that suffer from this problem. You will notice that these low thyroid symptoms are quite common. Therefore, without having yourself checked, it might be difficult to detect that you have low thyroid problems.

Hypothyroidism is an underactive thyroid in which your thyroid gland doesn't produce enough of certain hormones. Hypothyroidism upsets the normal balance of chemical reactions in your body but does not cause symptoms in the early stage. After a simple blood test to determine any thyroid problems, treatment with synthetic thyroid hormones can be given.

Hypothyroidism affects more than eleven million people just in the United States alone but is more common in women and usually over about fifty years of age, and is very dangerous in pregnant women. An imbalance in the body is not a good thing when you are trying to grow another body inside you of course.

This is simply the inflammation of the gland as a result of a viral illness (sub acute thyroiditis). This condition can be associated with a sore throat and fever and may be painful when trying to swallow. The inflammation makes the thyroid gland "loose," so that the amount of thyroid hormone entering the blood is increased.

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