Health Information
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Understanding This Symptom
Medical Definition
Subject Matter Expert Verified
Hypothyroidism is a metabolic disorder where the thyroid gland in your neck fails to produce enough thyroid hormone, causing your body's metabolism to slow down dramatically.
This results in persistent fatigue, unexplained weight gain, feeling cold all the time, and dry skin.
It affects roughly 1 in 10 adults, with women being 5 to 10 times more likely than men to develop this condition.
Quick Facts
What Optimal Health Looks Like
Understanding how your body functions when healthy helps identify dysfunction
A healthy thyroid works like a finely tuned thermostat for your entire body.
The hypothalamus (your brain's control center) senses low thyroid hormone levels and releases TRH (thyrotropin-releasing hormone).
This signals the pituitary gland to release TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone), which tells your thyroid gland to produce T4 (thyroxine) and smaller amounts of T3 (triiodothyronine).
Your liver and other tissues then convert T4 into active T3, which binds to nuclear receptors in every cell, regulating metabolism, energy production, body temperature, heart rate, cognitive function, and reproductive health.
Healthy Function
Your body is designed to maintain balance and self-regulate
How This Develops
Autoimmune destruction (Hashimoto's thyroiditis) - TPO (thyroid peroxidase) antibodies and Tg (thyroglobulin) antibodies mistakenly attack and destroy thyroid tissue, progressively reducing hormone production over years
Peripheral conversion failure - Even when T
Thyroid receptor resistance - Cellular receptors become less responsive to T
Hypothalamic-pituitary axis dysfunction - Secondary hypothyroidism occurs when the pituitary fails to produce adequate TSH or the hypothalamus fails to release TRH
Nutrient depletion - Selenium deficiency impairs deiodinase function, iron deficiency reduces thyroid hormone synthesis, and zinc deficiency affects T
Elevated reverse T
Understanding the mechanism helps us target the root cause rather than just treating symptoms.
What Happens If Left Untreated
Understanding the consequences helps you make informed decisions about your health
Short-Term Consequences
Days to weeks
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Time Matters
Don't wait for symptoms to worsen. Early intervention leads to better outcomes.