How to detect signs of hypothyroidism

What is hypothyroidism?

This guide will explain the symptoms of hypothyroidism, but before the finding out about the symptoms, it is important to establish what hypothyroidism is.

Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the body doesn't have sufficient hormone called thyroid. What is this thyroid hormone? How important it is? These are all the other doubts that may crop up in your mind. Thyroid hormone is the hormone that is secreted by the gland called thyroid gland. The hormone thyroid is responsible for the metabolic reactions of the body.

You may not have heard about hypothyroidism like you would about other medical conditions. You will be surprised to know that there are nearly five million people in America living with this deficiency syndrome and almost ten percent of the global women population is living with hypothyroidism. Most of these people will have suffered at least some or even most of the hypothyroidism symptoms below.

Main cause of hypothyroidism

The main cause for hypothyroidism is inflammation of thyroid gland in condition such as autoimmune thyroiditis. The second major cause is side effect of broad medical treatments. Dietary iodine deficiency is also one of the reasons for hypothyroidism.

Hypothyroidism symptoms

• Fatigue/tiredness
• Feeling thirsty
• Coarse hair or even hair loss
• Muscle pain
• Constipation
• Memory loss
• Depression

Hypothyroid symptoms are many. Fatigue and weakness is common due to impaired metabolism. The person's hair will be coarse and dry. The skin will appear pale and the texture will be rough. The major hypothyroidism symptom is increase in weight gain. You can be rest assured that people will hypothyroidism will find it very, very difficult to loose weight.

Some or all of the hypothyroidism symptoms are common

Hair loss can be noticed in some patients with hypothyroidism. Muscle pain at regular intervals and muscle cramps are very common sign and symptom of hypothyroidism . Constipation, memory loss, irritability, depression are the other possible signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism. Decreased sexual desire and irregular menstrual cycle are very common in hypothyroidism.

The signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism will vary from person to person. The hypothyroidism symptoms will vary depending on the severity of the hypothyroidism means how much less hormone is produced and the duration of the deficiency.

Symptoms vary from person to person

Some patients with hypothyroidism will have only few sign and symptoms of hypothyroidism that we had discussed already while the other people will have totally different set of symptoms. You may be surprised to know that some people with hypothyroidism will not show any symptoms that mentioned above at all.

Al the above discussed signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism are not only seen in patients with hypothyroidism. Hence if you notice these symptoms you can never conclude that you are suffering from hypothyroidism. You need to consult the doctor who will probably take the opinion of endocrinologist before confirming hypothyroidism.