Six Common Questions About Hypothyroidism

As we all know that hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) is a condition in which your thyroid gland doesn't produce enough of certain crucial hormones.

Let’s directly talk some common questions about hypothyroidism here.

Does exercise influence hypothyroidism?

When you have hypothyroidism, regular exercise can help you relieve many of the symptoms associated with fatigue, weight gain, and joint pain, and improve cardiovascular health and muscle mass, also it’s important to take some precautions. Be sure you’re taking the right amount of thyroid hormone medication before starting an exercise routine. Don’t overdo exercises. Getting regular exercise — even at the most moderate levels — is important for anyone with hypothyroidism. If you are doing intense exercise much, you may experience an excessively high heart rate, especially, when you take too much thyroid medication. All in all, we have to gradually increase what our body is able to tolerate. Only if take regular exercise, it helps boost your metabolism and improve overall strength.

Any side effects on the long-term medicine for hypothyroidism?

Recently, levothyroxine is a medicine used to treat hypothyroidism, which acts as the missing thyroid hormone thyroxine. Also it is only available on prescription. It comes as tablets or as a liquid that you swallow. Levothyroxine remains a highly effective therapy for hypothyroidism. You'll initially have regular blood tests until the correct dose of levothyroxine is reached. Generally speaking, once you are a hypothyroidism patient, you need take a life-long blood testing and levothyroxine for your whole life. The long-term taking this medicine was significantly associated with an increased risk of cancer, particularly brain, skin, pancreatic, and female breast cancers. But if you change the dose according to the doctor appropriately and carefully take care of your physical condition to avoid negative outcomes, the risk will go away from you. Therefore, patients should carefully consider the amount of levothyroxine therapy and monitor patients' condition to avoid negative outcomes. Using this medicine with some special food, other medicine, alcohol, or tobacco may cause an increased risk of certain side effects but may be unavoidable in some cases.

Does hypothyroidism genetic?

It depends on the situation. Most cases of hypothyroidism are not genetic. However, there are certain types of hypothyroidism, such as familial isolated hypothyroidism, that are caused by genetic mutations. In these cases, the disease-causing mutations are in genes that directly or indirectly control PTH production or secretion. These genetic variants can be inherited in an autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, or X-linked recessive pattern. Therefore, you may not need to worry about the hypothyroidism genetic, if you are not born in a familial isolated hypothyroidism.

Does hypothyroidism cured naturally?

Unluckily, it cannot be cured naturally. This is because HPT can be caused by a set of genetic mutations that results in the abnormal parathyroid gland thinking that a higher calcium level is appropriate for the body. It almost likes changing the thermostat on your air conditioning. To make this mistake, there are multiple genetic changes that have to happen in the same cell, which mistakenly aims for a higher calcium level. At this moment, this cell starts to duplicate itself and get bigger. A series of action is controlled by the mutations which is unfortunately no natural mechanism or remedy to reverse. It can only limit the risk of HPT or slow down the impact of the disease by having or made less likely to occur by having a healthy lifestyle and less exposure to toxins.

What is newest progress on this hypothyroidism?

No more newest progress on the hypothyroidism. It is really difficult to make some treatment on genetic mutations. If HPT patients find their symptoms worsen, they may require hypothyroidism surgery. That may be a relatively effective method.

How to face with hypothyroidism?

It is a bad new for you, once you are diagnosed with hypothyroidism. How to deal with this unknown disease？Getting a good knowledge about it is very important. You may need to treat it as your friend who will be accompanied with you in your rest of life, no matter how much you like it or not. You may be also required to eat something you don’t like, avoid something you are crazy about, such as smoking, drinking, even need to exercise regularly, worst of all, you need to take some medication in your whole life. But be optimistic with it. Luckily, it did not threaten your life, and you are given more chances to change your physical condition in the future. Also you may develop a lot of good habits from that diagnosed moment.