Unmasking Thyroid Disease
Last April
2016, a bill declaring every fourth week of September as National Thyroid
Cancer Awareness Week was passed in the Congress. The government has realized
that Filipinos should be more aware of thyroid as a potentially curable
disease.
According to a study made by the
Philippine Society of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism in 2012, one in 11
Filipino adults has goiter, and around one in 12 Filipino adults suffers from
some form of thyroid disorders.
In another study, it show that
Thyroid cancer is the seventh most common cancer in the Philippines, ranking
fourth among females and 17th among males.
Should we be alarmed by this?
Even though thyroid cancer is one of the disease that is potentially curable,
detecting it late can make it spread to other parts of the body and can lead to
poor quality of life and even death. So it is better for everyone concerned to
avail of an early screening and detection, in this way, early detection can lead
to early surgery and treatment and of course a potential cure.
So basically what is thyroid
disease?
Your thyroid is a small,
butterfly-shaped gland located in your neck—below and behind your Adam's apple.
A healthy thyroid typically weighs about one ounce. The thyroid's function is
to produce thyroid hormone which is essential for all your body's functions.
Your thyroid gland is the main
organ in the body that can absorb iodine. The thyroid takes iodine from your
diet and converts it into thyroid hormones.
Everything in your body relies on
thyroid hormone—including digestion, the growth of your hair and nails, your
sex drive, and the function of your organs and glands. Your brain, heart, and
metabolism are especially dependent on the right levels of thyroid hormone to
function properly and well.
The thyroid operates in a
feedback loop with your pituitary gland.
During the bloggers event on
Unmasking your Thyroid last September 21 held at the Holiday Inn Suites Makati,
Dr. Nemencio Nicodemus, Jr., who is the President of the Philippine Society of
Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, as well as a Professor in the UP
College of Medicine and the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health, held
an informative talk on what the thyroid is, as well as the symptoms of thyroid
disease.
It is said that millions of
Filipinos are affected by problems with their thyroid, yet awareness of this
disease is very low. The symptoms of thyroid disorders are often mistaken for
other diseases, or worse, are ignored by patients with the disease.
Thyroid had different conditions
such as hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism and each have various signs and
symptoms.
Patients with hypothyroidism, or
too little thyroid hormone, tend to have slower metabolism: they gain weight
despite not eating much, move and speak slowly, feel tired and have depressed
thoughts, cannot tolerate cold, and have irregular menstrual periods. On the
other hand, patients with hyperthyroidism, or too much thyroid hormone, will
have hyperactive metabolism: they lose weight despite having good appetite,
have heart palpitations, irritable thoughts and insomnia, have sweating and
heat intolerance, and can have tremors in their hands.
On the other hand, there lots of
people who may have thyroid disorders, but aren’t even aware until it is too
late. It is important to have one’s thyroid checked as early as possible,
especially if there is family history of the disease, or during pregnancy.
Prevention, proper information and early detection will always be better than
cure that comes too late.
To know more about thyroid
disease, more information can be found online in
the website www.thyroid.ph. This is an
online repository of information where people can learn more about thyroid
disorders. The website also contains useful guides which can help people check
themselves for symptoms of thyroid disorders, such as goiter, hyperthyroidism,
or hypothyroidism.
The talk about thyroid is brought
to us by Merck. Merck is the world’s oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company
with headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany. Merck is a leading science and
technology company that works to further develop technologies that improve and
enhance life – from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple
sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to
liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions.
2 comments