Thyroid malfunction

When thyroid becomes dysfunctional, it can induce disease as the hormone secreted by thyroid becomes too much or too little.
It is classified into hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism and can be diagnosed with blood test.

• Hypothyroidism

  It is a disease with less active metabolism due to lack of thyroid hormone. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is the most common cause and can be treated with hormonal medication.

  Decreased metabolism

  Weight gain, slow pulse, dyspnea, weakness, cold, feet and hand edema, rash, menorrhagia, alopecia, depression, increased sleep

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• Hypothyroidism

  It is disease caused by over-secretion of thyroid hormone, and Grave’s disease is the most common cause. Drug that can suppress synthesis of thyroid hormone is necessary.

  Increased Metabolism

  Weight loss, fast pulse, fatigue, heat, over-sweating, hand shaking, weaker strength, menstrual irregularity, exophthalmos

Thyroid nodule

It is a cellular mass inside thyroid that turned into a lump. It may not be easily palpable, but it rarely does. Confirmation is done with ultrasound. About 85% is benign, and thyroid cancer, malignant tumor, accounts for about 5%.
Fine needle aspiration test is performed to confirm malignancy.
Benign nodule can be followed up with regular checkup as it does not have great influence on health, but if it is too big or there is symptom, it is treated.
Treatment for benign nodule includes resection and radiofrequency treatment.

hyroid cancer can be classified into differentiated thyroid cancer, anaplastic thyroid cancer, poorly differentiated thyroid cancer, and medullary thyroid cancer. Furthermore, differentiated thyroid cancer is classified into papillary thyroid carcinoma and follicular thyroid carcinoma.
More than 90% of thyroid cancer in Korea is known to be papillary thyroid carcinoma.
Thyroid cancer is one of the cancers with slow progression, so early finding may lead to higher complete remission.
Therefore, periodic checkup is important. Women has it 3 times more than men, so we recommend having thyroid ultrasound while having breast ultrasound.

• Change in voice tone
• Sudden increase of nodule
• Dyspnea
• Pain
• Compression