Thyroid disease is the most common endocrine pathology. Special attention is given hypothyroidism, symptoms of which are often seen as trivial whims and laziness - is diagnosed in 2-4% of the population( women 45-50 years - 6-8%), and leads to disruption of the entire organism. That is why every woman should know the symptoms of hypothyroidism and the methods of its effective treatment.
Contents of
- 1 Hypothyroidism - what is it?
- 2 Symptoms of hypothyroidism and the first signs of
- 3 Symptoms of hypothyroidism in women - particularly
- 4 Diagnosis of hypothyroidism
- 5 Treatment of hypothyroidism in women, drugs
- 5.1
Complications Hypothyroidism - what is it?
Hypothyroidism - a painful condition associated with persistent failure( low generation or rapid destruction) of thyroid hormones thyroxine( T4) and triiodothyronine( T3) against increase of TSH pituitary hormone index.
These hormones perform the following functions:
- Responsible for normal growth and development of the body;
- Control the work of the heart, nervous and digestive system, affect reproductive function and musculoskeletal system;
- Regulate the metabolism at all levels - lipid, carbohydrate, protein, water-salt;
- Participate in the formation of immunity and anti-stress resistance.
Symptoms of hypothyroidism are caused by a violation of the above functions, and the severity of the clinical picture directly depends on the degree of hormone deficiency.
lead to hypothyroidism:
- small dimensions and its thyroid aplasia, hereditary deficiency of hormone( congenital hypothyroidism);
- Organic pathology of the thyroid( primary hypothyroidism) - thyroiditis, nodular goiter, tumors, abscess, tuberculosis;Medical
- manipulation -rezektsiya or complete removal of the thyroid gland, radioactive iodine therapy, and the administration of drugs with tireostaticheskim action( corticosteroids Merkazolil, Dopamine, medicines for the treatment of hepatitis, etc...);
- Lack of iodine coming from food( long-term endemic goiter);
- Pituitary and hypothalamic disorder( secondary hypothyroidism) - brain trauma, pituitary tumors, hemorrhages;
- Autoimmune disorders( rapid inactivation of hormones) and their deiodination in the blood.
Hypothyroid deficiency is not an independent disease and always occurs against a background of another disease. However, the cause of the disease is not always possible to identify.
Hypothyroidism in its development through the following stages:
- Subclinical - thyroid, reflexively compensate for the deficiency of hormones, growing in size. At the same time, the T3 and T4 levels remain normal, and the TTG index is somewhat overestimated.
- Manifesto - ongoing increase in the level of TSH and a decrease in T4 provokes external manifestations of the disease.
- Compensated - hormone deficiency is compensated by drug therapy.
- Decompensated - an irreplaceable level of hormones leads to severe consequences up to cretinism, heart failure and myxedema coma.
Symptoms of hypothyroidism and the first signs of
The clinical picture of hypothyroid insufficiency is associated with the slowing down of metabolic processes and manifests itself in symptoms from almost all organs and systems. So, for the symptoms of hypothyroidism, women are characterized by violations:
- Skin covers
The first signs of hypothyroidism of the thyroid gland are manifested by the fragility of the nails with the formation of grooves on the nail plates, dim color and massive hair loss. Pale skin with scaly foci and areas of hyperkeratosis on elbows and feet is noted. There may be a slight jaundice due to an increase in the liver, a decrease in body temperature to 35 ° C.
Patients with hypothyroidism are characterized by a puffy face: bags under the eyes, swelling of the lips and tongue( traces of teeth along the edges of the tongue), swelling of the feet / hands. Swelling of the nasal mucosa leads to difficulty breathing and impaired smell.
Thus diuretics at decrease in daily quantity of urine owing to oppression of function of kidneys do not reduce puffiness, only aggravating failure of water-salt balance.
There is also some increase in weight. The control of weight gain is caused by a lack of appetite and disturbed digestion. However, it is almost impossible to lose extra pounds.
- Heart
The heart for a lack of hormones responds with bradycardia( less than 55 beats / min), low blood pressure, arrhythmia and frequent attacks of angina type. The doctor can fix the deafness of the heart tones, the change of the T wave on the ECG, the enlarged borders of the heart.
However, in neglected cases, it is often fixed atypical reaction of the cardiovascular system - persistent tachycardia, hypertension.
- Musculoskeletal system
Weakness, sometimes reaching total impotence, is caused by a decrease in muscle tone, physical stamina decreases. A slow process of muscle relaxation leads to stiffness in the movements and periodic convulsive twitching of individual muscles.
With congenital hypothyroidism, the symptoms of disproportionate development are fixed: shortened limbs with a long trunk.
- Nervous system
The state of causeless apathy gradually develops into depression. Memory is noticeably affected, and the violation of mental abilities with congenital hypothyroidism leads to the development of cretinism. In this plane, the symptoms of hypothyroidism in women are manifested by numbness of the limbs, problems with vision and hearing.
- Blood
The hematopoietic system responds to hypothyroid deficiency with anemia, which intensifies manifestations of general weakness. The decrease in immunity is manifested by frequent colds. Less often in the analysis of blood is fixed leukopenia.
- Digestion
With hypothyroidism, symptoms often appear on the part of the digestive tract. Atony of the intestine leads to constipation, and gastritis occurs with constant pain and excruciating nausea. Violated and the process of digestion of food - in the stool are found undigested elements.
- Endocrine abnormalities
Hypothyroidism causes a chain of hormonal disorders. Insufficient adrenal function aggravates the manifestations of the disease. The reproductive function suffers: impotence in men, frigidity and disrupted menstrual cycle in women.
Hypothyroidism is an excellent "masker".Often hormonal deficiency of the thyroid gland, especially at the subclinical stage, is confused with heart disease, fatigue syndrome, depression and other diseases.
However, treatment of hypothyroidism will be effective only if adequate therapy is prescribed by means of hormone replacement therapy.
Symptoms of hypothyroidism in women - features of
Often, the symptoms of hypothyroidism in women are left unaddressed: the severity of the condition does not match with the complaints presented. Puffy face, "extinct" look( with normal functioning of the thyroid gland, women glisten!), Problems with hair and nails cause doubts about its attractiveness.
Often from women with hypothyroid insufficiency, you can hear:
- Sufficient sleep does not bring rest to the body. The morning begins with a sense of weakness.
- I do not want anything, although there is no apparent reason for apathy.
- Constant chilliness, regardless of weather and clothing.
- Pathological forgetfulness, very poor memory( signs are often associated with atherosclerosis due to increased cholesterol in hypothyroidism).
- Fainting due to hypotension and speech retardation.
- Lack of sexual desire, excess of hair throughout the body.
- The occurrence of mastopathy, cystic lesions in the chest and uterus.
- Violation of the menstrual cycle( irregular menstruation), earlier onset of menopause.
Thyroid hypothyroidism in women can occur during pregnancy amid a lack of iodine intake. But if hypothyroidism is limited to the subclinical stage, the condition of the woman is normalized after childbirth.
Sometimes hypothyroidism gets a continuation in the postpartum period, this is due to the oppression of the pituitary gland.
Diagnosis of hypothyroidism
The diagnosis is based on the analysis of the thyroid hormones Th3, T4 and TTG.Hypothyroidism is diagnosed at a thyroxine level less than 140-50 nmol / l and triiodothyronine less than 3.85-1.50 mmol / l.
In this case, the increase in the TSH index occurs in a logarithmic progression: even with a slight deficit of T4, a significant increase in TSH is recorded. The degree of insufficiency of hormones T3 and T4 determines the severity of the disease.
Ultrasonography of the thyroid gland( node detection), X-ray or CT scan of the head to exclude a tumor of the pituitary gland is used to identify the causative disease.
See details on the analysis of thyroid hormones and thyroid biopsy.
Treatment of hypothyroidism in women, drugs
The main treatment for hypothyroidism in women is the elimination of hormone deficiency with the help of medicinal synthetic hormones. Depending on the blood indicators, the doctor individually selects the drug, starting treatment with a minimum dose.
Widely used therapeutic agents - L-thyroxine, Thyreoidinum, Thyroxine, Thyreocombe. The effectiveness of the prescribed dose is checked by repeated examination of the level of hormones.
Also used in the treatment of hypothyroidism are dietary supplements such as Endonorm. The plant composition regulates the production of the hormone TSH, has a symptomatic effect( normalizes the reproductive system, adrenal glands, increases immunity) and has no serious side effects unlike synthetic hormones.
However, dietary supplements are not an alternative substitute for hormone therapy, treatment with Endonorm and others is only possible with the approval of the treating endocrinologist.
With timely treatment of hypothyroidism and regular intake of hormonal drugs, the patient remains able to work. In this case, twice a year, it is necessary to monitor the level of hormones and adjust the dosage of drugs.
After surgical resection of the thyroid gland, replacement therapy is performed for life. The most serious side effect of synthetic hormones is the gradual extinction of thyroid gland functions and its atrophy, which entails an increase in the dosage of drugs.
Especially severe hypothyroidism occurs in children. The child's brain is especially sensitive to a lack of iodine and thyroid hormones. The delay in physical development is accompanied by low intelligence and poor learning ability.
Complications of
Developing disease is fraught with myocardial infarction, frequent pneumonia and meksedematoznoy coma. Hypothyroid coma often occurs in the elderly, forgetting to take prescribed medications for the treatment of hypothyroidism, and threatens the patient's life.
Against the background of a decrease in temperature to 30ºС there is depression of consciousness and breathing, symptoms of heart failure increase, fluid accumulates in the body and diuresis decreases.
- Lethal outcome with myxedema coma - up to 40% of patients.
