According to multiple studies conducted on thyroid cases, it was observed that women are about 10 times more likely to get thyroid than men. This happens because of various reasons, majority of them are related to change in hormones in different stages of life. Thyroid is an hormone which is produces in the organ which is located on your neck, then this gland gets inflamed, it results to thyroid disease. Today we will look at condition because of which women are affected more of thyroid disease than men do and causes related to it.
Causes Of Thyroid in Women
Hyperthyroidism is the condition in which the thyroid glands produce more than necessary amount of hormones needed by the body. As a result of this, the tissues become fat and the person also gets on the heavier side. In the condition, where thyroid hormones are very low than needed, it results to hypopthyroidism. According to Dr. Arun Kumar Singh, Senior Endocrinologist and dialectologist from AIIMS Hospital, Greater Noida, it usually occurs to women in puberty, change in menstrual cycle, during pregnancy or at the stage of menopause. All these stages are linked to changes in other hormones which disintegrate hormonal balance in the thyroid gland as well. Hence, one must be very careful in these stages to prevent thyroid disease.
Stages and Effects Of Thyroid on Women
As explained by doctor earlier, there are some stages in which thyroid can be more prominent. Thyroid can impact your body and cause hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism, depending on the hormonal changes. Here are stages and effects of thyroid on women in these stages.
1. Puberty and Menstruation
In the early stage of puberty when the menstrual cycle begins, it can be one of the causes of getting thyroid. Usually girls are around 13-15 years at that time and they tend to get periods for the first few times. During this stage, the body of the person has abnormal levels of very high or low levels of thyroid hormones. This can effect menstrual periods of the girl and cause irregular menstrual cycle or missing some periods because of thyroid problems. Having abnormal levels of thyroid in the puberty is called amenoorhea.
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2. Reproduction Cycle
Thyroid can cause an over reactive or under reactive bladder in the process of reproduction. In the stage of ovulation, if the woman gets thyroid, then it affects her ovulation process and creates problem in fertilization of eggs. As a result of this condition, thyroid disorder can increase the risk of cyst development in the ovaries which can be very harmful to women’s health. Having thyroid disease can cause pregnancy issues and affect the production of milk in the breasts as well. Severe hypothyroidism can also prevent ovulation from happening.
3. During Pregnancy and postpartum
During pregnancy, a lot of changes occur in a women’s body. This also affects the thyroid glands and result to high or low levels of thyroid hormone production. Because of this issue, many women get thyroid disease during or after their pregnancy. As mentioned earlier, it also affects the fertilization process and could cause thyroid disorders. Thyroid can also cause miscarriages, preterm delivery, stillbirth, and most importantly postpartum haemorrhage.
Most of the women developing thyroid issues at this stage suffer from hypothyroidism which is underactive thyroid. Apart from this, a lot of women suffer from morning sickness because of overactive thyroid gland during pregnancy.
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4. Stage of Menopause
Menopause is also another time in women’s life when a lot of hormonal changes take place. This affects the production of thyroid in the gland which increases the risk of developing hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. Thyroid disorder could however cause an early menopause as well. There have been cases in which women mistook thyroid to be menopause, especially between ages of 40-45 years.
Treating hyperthyroidism can actually ease symptoms of early menopause and prevent complications from happening in the future. Thyroid at the stage of menopause can cause a variety of health issues which may affect daily life of women such as-
- Hot flashes
- Inability to sleep
- Lack of menstruation
- Mood swings
- Irritation and discomfort
Prevention of Thyroid for Women
Doctors recommend getting thyroid checked during regular health checkups as it could cause a number of health problems. If you get any symptoms that may be of thyroid, hyper or hypo, it is best to start treatment as early as possible. The reason for this is that thyroid has a negative impact on your life in many ways and creates certain complications if not treated or kept under control. Thyroid could also affect the life expectancy of the person and cause unexplained problems. Usually you may get fatigue, experience sudden weight gain or weight loss and regular mood swings as part of thyroid symptoms.
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