Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
For more than 10 years, millions of readers have trusted the bestselling Everything series for expert advice and important information on health topics ranging from pregnancy and postpartum care to heart health, anxiety, and diabetes. Packed with the most recent, up-to-date data, Everything health guides help you get the right diagnosis, choose the best doctor, and find the treatment options that work for you.
The Everything Healthy Living Series books are concise guides, focusing on only the essential information you need. Whether youre looking for an overview of traditional and alternative migraine treatments, advice on starting a heart-healthy lifestyle, or suggestions for finding the right medical team, theres an Everything Healthy Living Book for you.
Thyroid Disease
According to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, there are 27 million people in this country with some form of thyroid disease. Approximately half are unaware that they have this condition.
Having a healthy thyroid has numerous implications for your life, your health, and your happiness. A healthy thyroid makes it easier for you to maintain your body weight, keeps depression at bay, and gives your cells the energy they need for all the activities you do. The proper amount of thyroid hormone is also essential for menstrual regularity, pregnancy, and the delivery of a healthy baby. An unhealthy thyroid, on the other hand, can cause problems as diverse as dry hair, difficulty concentrating, and muscle aches. It can make you perpetually uneasy, constantly exhausted, and sweaty for no good reason. In short, the thyroid gland affects virtually every aspect of your health and well-being.
That said, you may wonder how anyone could have a thyroid problem and not know it. Its simple. Many people with thyroid disease are being treated only for their symptoms. So rather than being properly treated for a thyroid problem, theyre being given remedies for specific symptoms. An antidepressant for depression. A sleeping pill for insomnia. Stool softeners for constipation. For many people, treatment for the underlying thyroid disorder could correct all these symptoms.
Thats why this book is so vital. By reading this material, you will glean the basic medical knowledge you need to talk intelligently with your doctor about your thyroid condition, so that you can ask smart questions, get the right tests, and get the appropriate treatments. Best of all, you will do all this without wading through heavy medical terminology.
No, its not always easy to have a thyroid disorder. But the good news about thyroid disease is that most people are readily treated and go on to live perfectly normal, healthy lives. The key to getting well and staying well is knowledge. By picking up this book, youve made a commitment to learn as much as you can about your thyroid. And thats one giant first step toward better health.
If youd like to learn more about thyroid disease, check out The Everything Guide to Thyroid Disease, available in print (978-1-4405-2853-8) and eBook (978-1-4405-2948-1) formats.
The Battle with Weight
Youve tried everything to lose that extra weight. Youve cut out desserts, made daily visits to the gym, and given up snacking in front of the TV at night. Still, those pounds refuse to budge. Now, you wonder, could it be a thyroid problem? Turns out, your thyroid just might be the bad guy.
How Your Thyroid Affects Weight
Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight knows the frustration. The endless dieting. The attempts to exercise. The ups and downs on the scale. When at long last your doctor figures out you have a thyroid problem, you pin your hopes on the thyroid hormone replacement drug, only to find, months later, that youre still embroiled in a battle with your weight.
Or perhaps youre part of the minority who has the opposite problem. No matter how much you eat, you cant seem to gain weight. You try eating more frequently. You try to eat more high-calorie foods. You indulge in desserts, snacks, and anything you want. Still, you remain thin as a rail and forever fighting off colds, flus, and other infections.
In both cases, the problem could have something to do with your thyroid. An underactive thyroid tells the body to slow down and harness its energy stores, causing an increase in appetite and an overall reduction in your metabolism. An overactive thyroid speeds everything up so that cell activity is accelerated, causing energy in your body to be burned more quickly.
Some people, like Beth, encounter weight changes on both ends of the spectrum.
Early on, Beth noticed she was losing weight and had headaches, exhaustion, and a rapid heartbeat. A doctor uncovered her hyperthyroidism and suggested RAI treatment. Before the treatment, he encouraged her to eat whatever she wanted, and still, she lost 10 percent of her body weight. But after the RAI, her doctor waited six weeks before starting her on Synthroid. All the weight she lost came back until she got on Synthroid. Gradually, she lost the extra weight.
The thyroid gland plays a major role in body weight because it regulates your basal metabolic rate (BMR). Thats the rate at which your body uses energy when its at rest. In the old days, measuring your BMR was one way to determine whether you had a thyroid disease. Those who had a low BMR had an underactive thyroid. Those with a high BMR had an overactive thyroid.
Doctors no longer use BMR to determine your thyroid status, but a slowdown or speeding up in your metabolism is still a good indicator that something is awry with your thyroid. Getting a handle on your thyroid condition can usually put an end to this change in metabolism. But for some people, the weight problems do not go away with treatment.
A Primer on Weight
Its easy to blame your thyroid for the fact that youve recently put on some pounds. But in reality, many factors influence your body weight, and your thyroid is only one of them albeit an important one. Other factors that influence your body weight include:
- Genetics. Your genes affect your appetite, your BMR, and your distribution of body fat. They may also influence your susceptibility to becoming overweight.
- Hormones. The body makes many hormones that regulate weight, mostly to ensure it doesnt go down. For primitive man, the problem was not enough food, so most hormones evolved to prevent weight loss.
- Diet. The types of food you eat and the amount you ingest have a direct effect on your weight.
- Exercise. The more physical activity you do, the less likely you are to gain weight.
- Body composition. Muscle naturally burns more calories than fat.
- Age. As you get older, your metabolism slows so that you cant eat the same amount you did when you were younger without gaining weight.
People in the process of gaining weight are basically taking in more calories than theyre expending. The process of becoming overweight or obese is often a slow, insidious one that you may not realize is happening until you try to squeeze into a pair of old jeans or you go shopping and realize youve jumped up a size.