Investigations #2

The other day, while flipping through my parent’s medical books in the library at our house, I saw a picture of a man with an enlarged thyroid gland. I was shocked at how enlarged the man’s thyroid gland was, so I wanted to investigate more on the disease called Hashimoto’s disease. I discovered that Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune disease, where the immune system sends T cells and create antibodies that would destroy a person’s thyroid tissue/gland. Interestingly enough, doctors currently do not know what causes one’s immune system to attack their thyroid gland. However, some suspect it is due to a virus or bacterium that might have triggered the response, while there are others who believe it is due to genetic flaws. It is found that women are more likely to develop the disease than men.

Hashimoto’s disease slowly progresses as one ages. Thyroid hormones would begin to decrease, TSH levels would increase as a result of decreased negative feedback, and goiter is likely to develop. The signs and symptoms of Hashimoto’s disease are basically under the general category of hypothyroidism, which include fatigue, puffy face, hoarse voice, pain and stiffness in joints, swelling in various parts of the body, muscle aches, and unexplained weight gain (mostly fluid). The treatments for Hashimoto’s disease involves daily replacement with pharmaceutical preparations of T₄, which restores the thyroid hormone levels and decrease TSH levels back to normal.

References

"Hashimoto's Disease." Symptoms. Mayo Clinic, 2 Jan. 2014. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

Widmaier, Eric P., Hershel Raff, Kevin T. Strang, and Arthur J. Vander. Vander's Human Physiology: The Mechanisms of Body Function. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. Print.