What Are The Effects Of Thyroid Hormone Deficiency?
The thyroid hormone is produced by the pituitary gland. It contains iodine and its deficiency or excess production can cause many problems in the body. If you ask your physician, he will tell you that this hormone exists in the form of T3 and T4.TSH is responsible for stimulating the pituitary gland to produce thyroid hormone and the three together are essential for regulating numerous body functions.
When the production of thyroid hormone in the body is low, it causes hypothyroidism that may affect the growth and development of the body. When it occurs, you can rarely detect the symptoms to hypothyroidism as the root cause as they are very subtle. Some of the effects of thyroid deficiency are given below:
- Fatigue
- Swelling of legs
- Diminished concentration
- Muscle cramps
- Increase of cholesterol
- Excessive sleepiness
- Feeling excessively cold
- Depression
- Dry skin
- Dry hair
- Weight gain
All the above mentioned symptoms are attributed to aging and therefore, if you exhibit them, you will put them down to advancing age rather than believe that you suffer from deficiency of the hormone.
While these symptoms do not seem severe, if undetected for long, they can cause severe health problems, sometimes even causing the patient to go into coma. But this is only in extreme cases. If treated on time with hormone replacement, it can help you lead a normal life.
Other effects of the deficiency of thyroid are enlarged heart, which at times leads to heart failure. If, addition to the above symptoms, you are also suffering from constipation suddenly along with intolerance of cold and a dry skin, you must see a physician immediately. He will recommend a blood test for you, which will determine if you are suffering from thyroid hormone deficiency.
Another scenario that is quite common is when the T3 and T4 levels of thyroid in the body are normal and only the TSH is high. This is an indication that the patient is progressing to hypothyroidism or deficiency of thyroid hormone. In such circumstances, the best thing for you to do is to address your concerns to your physician and get the blood tests done. Though, you may have to take medication throughout your life, the good news is that thyroid hormone deficiency can be controlled and you can a normal life without any health complications.