By Juliana Spano
Special to the Chronicle
Thyroid Awareness Month may be over, but I doubt you really feel informed. Thyroid disease can be a serious health issue for those affected, so students everywhere should wonder: what is thyroid disease, and could I have it?
In a phone interview, Dr. Mack Harrell and Dr. Yehuda Handelsman with the American Association of Endocrinologists explain the most frequent setback is misunderstanding the symptoms.
The thyroid is a small butterfly shaped gland at the base of your neck. The gland produces thyroid hormones, which are essential for the regulation of your metabolism. What people fail to recognize is that the symptoms are sometimes unnoticeable. Dr. Handelsman said that the gland sometimes gets swollen, but usually the disease is not physically obvious.
There are two types of thyroid disease: overactive and underactive. If you feel jittery and you can’t sleep, you might have a hyperactive thyroid. For those with a hypoactive thyroid, you may feel fatigued or even depressed. More than 27 million Americans are affected, and half of them do not even know they have the ailment because the signs are so common.
“The problem is any symptoms that are associated with high or low thyroid disease can be applied with so many other things,” Dr. Harrell said. The condition may be one of the least noticeable disorders.
Many victims of the disease go on antidepressants, when they are actually suffering from slow metabolism. Dr. Handelsman explained how many people are misdiagnosed. “Every week I get one or two patients from a psychiatrist who sends them to me to make sure that the psychological issues are not just psychological before medication,” he said.
Thyroid disease affects more women than men and the average age of infection is 30. However, both doctors agree the condition can occur at any age.
Dr. Handelsman said that if you wait to treat the disease, the repercussions may be lethal. “You may feel fine in the early years without treatment, but in later years, if you are not treated you could die.”
Dr. Harrell explains how people can overlook their disease. “The problem is that the symptoms can sneak up on you so slowly that many people just ignore them or don’t recognize them.” If you are experiencing any symptoms, both doctors advocate checking with a doctor to see if you are at risk for the disease.
