Thyroid Gland Diseases

What are the symptoms of thyroid gland diseases?
Majority of thyroid nodules do not present any symptoms. Thyroid nodules may be detected incidentally during examination or computed tomography or cervical ultrasound performed due to different reasons. In some cases, the patients may notice the swelling on their neck while they look at the mirror, button their neck up or wearing a necklace.



Abnormal thyroid function tests may cause to detect the thyroid nodule. Nodules may cause hyperthyroidism by producing excessive thyroid hormone. However, many thyroid nodules including cancerous lesions have no function; blood tests like TSH level are normal. The patients with thyroid nodule may rarely complain from pain on the neck, chin or ear. If a nodule is so large to cause compression on the trachea or esophagus, dyspnea, swallowing difficulty or "tingling sense on the neck" may appear. Rarely, if the nodule invades the nerve controlling the vocal cords, hoarseness may occur; however, this usually appears due to thyroid cancer.

What diseases are triggered by thyroid gland disorders?

Thyroid gland does not trigger any disease. Thyroid gland disorders trigger our metabolism and some diseases. The general view accepted for a long period is the complex association between thyroid gland, body weight and body metabolism. Thyroid gland regulates the metabolism both in human and animals. Metabolism is interpreted according to the oxygen used by the body within a certain period. If such measurement is performed during resting, it is called Basal Metabolism which is one of the oldest tests to evaluate thyroid functions.

Basal metabolism of the patients whose thyroid gland does not function well is lower. On the contrary, basal metabolism of the individuals with highly functional thyroid gland was found higher.  Further researches indicated that basal metabolism and thyroid hormone levels are proportional. Since it is known that basal metabolism has multiple variables, basal metabolism is not used to evaluate thyroid function anymore.