The human thyroid gland, slightly peach-colored, resembles a butterfly that rides across the trachea under the laryngeal nodes and moves up and down with swallowing in the throat. It is the largest endocrine gland in the body and regulates the basic metabolic conditions of a person by secreting thyroid hormones. “The high incidence but low awareness of thyroid disease has led to patients not being able to find a department to consult, and many patients with abnormal thyroid function are referred to other departments where they are found.” Professor Guo Lixin, director of the Department of Endocrinology at the Beijing Hospital of the Ministry of Health, said that young and middle-aged women, in particular, should be vigilant in recognizing and preventing abnormal thyroid function. Panic and shortness of breath is actually hyperthyroidism trouble Miss Sun in Beijing is a white-collar foreign enterprises, in recent times, she found that her heartbeat accelerated, there is always a feeling of panic. So, she took a day off to go to the cardiology department of the hospital to do a checkup. After a series of tests, her thyroid function was found to be abnormal, and the cardiologist referred her to the endocrinologist. It turned out that her problem was not with her heart, but with hyperthyroidism. Guo Lixin, chief doctor of the Department of Endocrinology at the Beijing Hospital of the Ministry of Health, said that the thyroid gland mainly ingests iodine, composes iodine, and uses iodine to synthesize thyroid hormones and secrete them, which is an important hormone that our human body metabolism and growth and development can not be lack of, and if the thyroid hormone is secreted in excess, it will have hyperthyroidism, which is also often referred to as hyperthyroidism. “Universal iodine supplementation is the right thing to do, because in the past, endemic goiter and neonatal malformations have been reduced. However, with iodine supplementation, the incidence of hyperthyroidism is increasing year by year, which of course has something to do with the accelerated pace of life in our present-day society, the pressure of life has become greater, etc.” Wang Xiaoxia, an attending physician at the Department of Endocrinology at Beijing Hospital of the Ministry of Health, said that, like other thyroid diseases, hyperthyroidism is predominant among young and middle-aged women, and the ratio of women to men is 4-6:1, with women in their twenties and thirties being the most prevalent age group. The whole body metabolic system “overload” operation Wang Xiaoxia pointed out that patients with hyperthyroidism, there will be a thickening of the neck, eyes protruding and other cosmetic changes, but in fact, the thyroid hormone is involved in most of the body’s metabolism, too much thyroid hormone intervention, resulting in the human body is like a full throttle car running as hard as possible, the long-term high-load operation, will accelerate the damage to the body organs, the body’s organs, the body’s organs and the body’s organs. Running, will accelerate the damage of human organs, these are patients do not realize. Nervous system: excessive sweating is a common symptom of hyperthyroidism, mainly manifested as generalized excessive sweating, which is especially obvious in summer. This is mainly due to the fact that thyroid hormones increase the amount of heat produced by the body, and coupled with the fact that hyperthyroidism causes the nervous system to become excited, sweating will increase. Sweating at the same time, patients are often afraid of heat; people are easily irritable, easily irritated, love to lose their temper; cardiovascular system: thyroid hormone acts on the heart, so that myocardial metabolism is accelerated, people will have a faster heartbeat, panic and shortness of breath symptoms, serious patients will also appear myocardial hypoxia and nutrient deficiencies, myocardial degeneration, cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac failure, etc.; digestive system: hyperthyroidism patients can eat, easy to eat, hungry, Endocrine system: for women, thyroid hormone acts directly on the ovaries and uterus, which can cause irregular menstrual cycles or amenorrhea; Musculoskeletal system: a large amount of thyroid hormone in hyperthyroidism can cause muscle weakness and muscle atrophy, and the patient will feel weak and fatigued easily; it can also decalcify the bones and lead to osteoporosis. Easy to recur Drug therapy is the first choice Wang Xiaoxia emphasized that although hyperthyroidism will bring harm to the whole body’s metabolic system, but this disease is not a complex disease, like the United States of America’s former President George W. Bush Sr. and his wife, Barbara, are patients with hyperthyroidism, and did not therefore affect their normal life. The treatment of hyperthyroidism is also very clear and simple. Currently, the main recognized treatment methods in the world are medication, radioactive iodine therapy, and surgery, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. Drug therapy is the treatment of choice in our country. “With good rest, adequate calorie and nutrition intake, as well as taking certain anti-thyroid medications, the treatment is very simple.” Wang Xiaoxia said that drug therapy is simple and convenient no trauma, easy to be accepted by the patient, especially some women with hyperthyroidism in childbearing age, this method is definitely the first choice. However, the cycle of oral drug treatment is very long, usually one year to one and a half years, and the patient needs to check the thyroid function in the hospital every month in the initial period, which is more troublesome. Moreover, after the thyroid function is normalized through medication, its recurrence rate is still around 40%. If it recurs, the treatment has to start again. Radioactive iodine treatment. “Except for women of childbearing age, breastfeeding, and children, patients with hyperthyroidism can choose this treatment. The high cure rate and short treatment cycle are its most attractive features.” Wang Xiaoxia introduced the principle of radioactive iodine treatment is very simple, patients eat a radioactive iodine, the ray’s range is very short, only 2 millimeters, will only be absorbed by the thyroid gland. It is equivalent to destroying the function of the thyroid gland without surgery. In the United States, radioactive iodine therapy is the first choice, and the aforementioned Mr. and Mrs. Bush Sr. have adopted radioactive iodine therapy. In the past, there have been concerns about the carcinogenic, leukemia-causing and teratogenic effects of radioactive iodine therapy, which were not found in clinical practice, but still limited the large-scale application of this treatment method in China to a certain extent. Surgical therapy. “No country has surgery as the first choice for the treatment of hyperthyroidism, one it has trauma, another, thyroid surgery requires general anesthesia may also have certain complications, surgery after all, there are risks.” Wang Xiaoxia said, “Therefore, surgery is only applicable in some special cases, such as someone who has poor drug treatment or allergy, huge thyroid gland with compression symptoms or suspected combined with thyroid cancer.” Compared to other treatments, surgery has the highest cure rate and lowest recurrence rate. Mental conditioning is crucial for hyperthyroidism Hyperthyroidism is a super-high metabolic syndrome, with increased basal metabolic rate and enhanced protein catabolism. For example, you can eat more lean meat, river fish, chicken, duck and eggs and other food with high calorie and protein content; appropriately increase the intake of carbohydrates such as rice and noodles; and pay attention to eating some fruits and various fresh vegetables. Try not to eat foods containing much iodine, such as kelp, sea shrimp and sea fish. Try not to smoke, do not drink alcohol, drink less strong tea, coffee. Hyperthyroidism patients have mental allergies, a little mental stimulation is easy to agitation, or fear, triggering or aggravating the condition. Therefore, mental conditioning should be an important part of the whole treatment process. It is important for patients to self-regulate their emotions, reduce work and life pressure, and have a calm mind. Wang Xiaoxia suggests that stimulating language, actions and expressions should be avoided for patients with hyperthyroidism, and patients should be cared for, considered and understood so that they are not mentally stimulated in any way, otherwise the recovery effect will be affected. “Spiritual changes, personality changes, and even changes in attitude toward life are related to thyroid disease, subclinical hyperthyroidism, subclinical hypothyroidism has not yet had a clinical manifestation, but there has been a pathophysiological manifestation.” Guo Lixin pointed out that this change, mainly seen through laboratory tests. People with subclinical thyroid dysfunction have normal levels of thyroid hormones, but the levels of thyrotropin have changed. “In the subclinical stage, it’s hard for the body to show anything, and in this part of the body, some of them will remain in the subclinical stage, some of them will progress to the clinical stage, and, of course, some of them will be able to return to normal.” According to Guo Lixin, subclinical thyroid dysfunction also requires treatment. Through treatment, the organism is put in a healthy state. Iodine supplementation tips For people without thyroid disease, there is no need to blindly supplement iodine, daily diet and iodized salt supplementation is sufficient. On the contrary, patients with hyperthyroidism should buy non-iodized salt from the market department of the salt company. For pregnant women, lactating women and people in iodine-deficient areas, iodine supplementation can be effectively utilized in foods with high iodine content. Iodine in daily life, pay attention to two small common sense: 1, iodized salt to prevent the volatilization of iodized salt should be eaten with the purchase of iodized salt, once unpacked to be sealed in an airtight container; frying salt iodized salt should be placed in the last process, that is, the pot before the food a few seconds before the addition of salt; do not fry iodized salt in oil; salt iodized salt when pickles, do not wash iodized salt, to prevent iodine evaporation and depletion. 2, seaweed food to eat in moderation Iodine-deficient patients should be under the guidance of the doctor scientific iodine supplementation. Seaweed food, such as kelp, seaweed, sea cabbage, wakame, fresh scallops, dried arkshells, dried scallops, tamarind, sea cucumbers, jellyfish, lobsters and other seafood are foods with high iodine content. Kelp has the highest iodine content, followed by sea shellfish and fresh sea fish. Land-based foods have the highest iodine content in eggs and milk, followed by meat and freshwater fish. Plants have the lowest iodine content, especially fruits and vegetables.