Women's Health Articles

Hashimoto?s disease (also known as thyroiditis) is considered an autoimmune condition because the immune system mistakenly attacks the thyroid gland located in the front of the neck. The thyroid gland is part of the endocrine system and plays a key role in your overall health producing numerous hormones that orchestrate various bodily functions. The attack by the immune system causes inflammation in this gland which can lead to Hashimoto?s disease.

Nowadays, thyroiditis is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in United States affecting approximately 15 million American women.

Symptoms of Hashimoto?s Disease

Inadequate levels of specific types of thyroid hormone can have an adverse effect on all of your bodily functions, causing the following symptoms:

Weight gain

Unexplained fatigue

Sensitivity to cold

Brain fog

Depression

Constipation

Pale, dry skin and rough skin

Hair loss

Muscle aches

Stiff joints

If you have Hashimoto?s disease, and it goes untreated, you risk experiencing more severe mental and physical sluggishness that will interfere with your daily tasks and thought processes.

The Diagnose

In order to diagnose Hashimoto?s disease the doctor will consider the signs and symptoms you?re experiencing and will order blood tests to determine if you?re suffering with thyroiditis. Blood tests help determine if your levels of thyroid hormone and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) are normal.

Also, an antibody test is used to detect if there are abnormal antibodies present. As we mentioned before, if thyroiditis is left untreated this can lead to some complications that include Goiter, the enlargement of your thyroid gland which affects your appearance and may interfere with breathing and swallowing, and cause heart problems, depression and decreased libido.

Women who have Hashimoto?s disease are at risk of having babies born with intellectual and developmental problems.

Treating Hashimoto?s Disease

There are medicines that can effectively treat Thyroiditis and help re-establish adequate hormone levels. It?s very important that the doctor establishes the right dose for each individual and closely monitor the progress as excessive amounts of these synthetic hormones can lead to bone loss and increase the risk of osteoporosis.

Alternatively, there are three powerful herbs that have been proven to stimulate the thyroid function and increase thyroid hormone production; coleus forskohlii is one of them. To learn more about this and other natural thyroiditis treatments visit, hashimotos disease