I recently had a preventive thyroid test. It turned out that the right half of the gland was slightly larger than the other. What does this mean?
Dimitrina Hristova, city of Ruse
For any, even minor change in the gland, it is necessary to consult an endocrinologist. Better to make sure everything is fine than to unlock some disease.
Basically, the size of the thyroid gland is very individual and depends on the person's physique, height and age. If part of the organ has only slightly enlarged, then most likely nothing significant has happened.
But sometimes such changes occur due to lack of iodine in drinking water and food. In most cases, it is enough to adjust your diet to return to normal thyroid size. Iodized s alt, seaweed, fish and other seafood are added to the diet.
Unfortunately, not all people pay timely attention to changes in their thyroid gland.
What signs should you pay attention to in order not to miss thyroid pathology?
A person is used to running to the doctor if something hurts or prevents him from breathing. But when the thyroid gland suffers, the discomfort is hardly felt.
However, pay attention: if the gland produces little hormone (hypothyroidism), a person feels unwell, weak, sleepy and his ability to work decreases. At the same time, the hair becomes thinner, the nails exfoliate and the skin becomes dry. Sometimes vision and hearing deteriorate, joints hurt.
With such symptoms, a person usually turns to a therapist, neurologist, orthopedist, otolaryngologist, and very rarely - to an endocrinologist.
The reason for the malaise is the lack of a hormone that controls important processes in the body. In addition, worldwide studies have proven that smoking, unbalanced diet, stress, prolonged work in front of the computer can accelerate the aging of the gland and reduce the production of the hormone.
That is why it is very important to visit an endocrinologist every year, to conduct an ultrasound examination of the gland and, if necessary, to check the level of the hormones it produces. Young people who are 23-30 years old today should be especially careful - they are most often diagnosed with thyroid tumors.
