Treatment and prevention of Thyroid problems
Treatment and prevention of Thyroid problems
Treatment of thyroid
- Non-Surgical Treatment for Thyroid Disease: Thyroid diseases are highly treatable with non-surgical treatments.
- Levothyroxine is given for hypothyroidism and is usually to be taken for life long to maintain the normal levels of thyroid hormones.
- For people who are sensitive to synthetic thyroid hormones, natural hormones from pigs can be used for maintain the thyroid hormones in the body.
- Thioamide drugs like Carbimazole, Methimazole and Propylthiouracil are used to treat Graves' disease.
- Radioactive iodine is used to treat hyperthyroidism and also thyroid tumors.
- PEI or Percutaneous Ethanol Injections are an alternative treatment method for recurrent thyroid cysts and metastatic thyroid cancer lymph nodes.
- Surgical Treatments for Thyroid Disease:
Surgery is often opted in cases of nodules in the thyroid gland, enlargement or thyroid cancer. A nodule or nodules could be removed for biopsy. It can also be done if there is a presence of an adenoma that is functioning autonomously giving rise to hyperthyroidism. Hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease and also large goiter or the one that presses vital structures in the neck is treated by removing a majority portion of the thyroid gland. A complete thyroidectomy along with removing the associated lymph nodes is performed in case of thyroid cancer. However, this can cause hypothyroidism and hence a person is given thyroid medications to be taken once daily for the rest of the life. In case of thyroid surgery, care must be taken to not affect the parathyroid gland which is situated just behind the thyroid gland and also the recurrent laryngeal nerve. The parathyroid gland helps in maintaining calcium levels in the blood and vitamin D levels in the body; damage to the gland or the blood vessels supplying blood to the gland can lead to sever deficiency of these two vital vitamin and mineral. Laryngeal nerve helps in motor control of the external muscles of larynx; damage to it can paralyze the vocal cord and the related muscles and also change the voice quality.- Radioiodine Therapy to Treat Thyroid Disease:
Prevention of Thyroid Disease
| RDA for Iodine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Male | Female | Pregnancy | Lactation |
| Birth – 6 months | 110 mcg | 110 mcg | - | - |
| 7 – 12 months | 130 mcg | 130 mcg | - | - |
| 1 – 8 years | 90 mcg | 90 mcg | - | - |
| 9 - 13 years | 120 mcg | 120 mcg | - | - |
| 14 – 18 years | 150 mcg | 150 mcg | 220 mcg | 290 mcg |
| 19+ years | 150 mcg | 150 mcg | 220 mcg | 290 mcg |
The treatment for thyroid disease is as follows:
The only way to prevent thyroid disease is to take the daily recommended allowance of Iodine as per WHO is 150mcg for adult women and men, 220mcg for pregnant women and 290mcg for nurturing mothers. The intake chart is as follows:
Although the daily recommended allowance for pregnant women of 14+ years is 220 mcg, WHO, UNICEF and ICCIDD recommends a daily allowance of 250mcg.
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