Thyroid For Dummies, UK Edition - Rubin, Alan L.

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Includes information on the latest thyroid treatments Understand and manage your thyroid condition Don't get pushed around by the little gland in your neck.

Résumé :

Introduction 1

About This Book 2

Conventions Used in This Book 2

What You Don't Have to Read 2

Assumptions 3

How This Book Is Organised 3

Part I: Understanding Your Thyroid 3

Part II: Treating Thyroid Problems 3

Part III: Managing Your Thyroid 3

Part IV: Considering Special Aspects of Thyroid Health 4

Part V: The Part of Tens 4

Part VI: Appendices 4

Icons Used in This Book 4

Where to Go from Here 5

Part I: Understanding the Thyroid 7

Chapter 1: Bigging It Up: The Huge Role of a Little Gland 9

Discovering the Extent of the Problem 10

Identifying an Unhappy Thyroid 11

Recognising Who's at Risk 11

Realising the Importance of a Healthy Thyroid 12

Treating What Ails You 12

Understanding the Consequences of Delaying Treatment 14

Giving Your Thyroid a Hand: Healthy Lifestyle Choices 14

Paying Special Attention: Pregnant Women, Children, and Older People 15

Staying Informed 16

Chapter 2: Feeling Fragile: The Emotional Effects of Thyroid Problems 17

Exploring How an Underactive Thyroid Slows Your Thoughts 18

Seeing How an Overactive Thyroid Can Trigger Anxiety 19

Fighting Depression 20

Finding out if your thyroid is causing depression 21

Using thyroid hormone to treat depression 22

Chapter 3: Discovering How Your Thyroid Works 25

Locating the Thyroid 26

Producing Thyroid Hormones 28

Identifying the importance of iodine 29

Regulating thyroid hormones 29

Moving thyroid hormones around 30

Understanding the Function of Thyroid Hormones 31

General functions 32

Specific functions 33

Chapter 4: Testing Your Thyroid 37

Checking Blood Levels of Thyroid Hormones 38

Total thyroxine 38

Resin T3 uptake 40

Free thyroxine index 40

Free thyroxine (FT4) 41

Free triiodothyronine (FT3) 42

Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) 42

Taking Non-Hormonal Blood Tests 43

Thyroid autoantibodies 44

Serum thyroglobulin 45

Determining the Size, Shape, and Content of Your Thyroid 46

Radioactive iodine uptake and scan 46

Thyroid ultrasound 48

Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) 49

Part II: Treating Thyroid Problems 51

Chapter 5: Dealing with an Underactive Thyroid 53

Living with Autoimmune Thyroiditis 54

The extent of the problem 54

Symptoms of chronic thyroiditis 55

Approach to treatment 55

Identifying Hypothyroidism 56

Signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism 56

Confusing conditions 57

Pinpointing the Causes of Hypothyroidism 58

Removal of the thyroid 58

Absence of brain hormones 58

Foods that cause hypothyroidism 59

Drugs that cause hypothyroidism 59

Coexisting autoimmune diseases 60

Diagnosing Severe Hypothyroidism 61

Treating Hypothyroidism 61

Taking the right hormones 61

Getting the right amount 63

Testing hormone levels 64

Chapter 6: Taming an Overactive Thyroid 65

Picturing Hyperthyroidism 66

Listing the Signs and Symptoms of Hyperthyroidism 66

The body generally 67

The thyroid 67

The skin and hair 67

The heart 68

The nervous system and muscles 68

The reproductive system 68

The stomach and intestines 68

The urinary system 68

The eyes 69

Confirming a Diagnosis of Hyperthyroidism 69

Determining Whether Graves' Disease Is the Culprit 70

Causes of Graves' disease 70

Signs and symptoms specifi...

Sommaire:
Alan L. Rubin, MD has over thirty years' experience treating thyroid conditions and is the co-author of Diabetes For Dummies.

Dr. Sarah Brewer is the co-author of Arthritis For Dummies, a health writer and broadcaster, and a former Health Journalist of the Year.