Middle-aged women need to bear the double pressure of career and family, outside is the “workplace in the middle”, at home is a good wife and mother, the sweet and bitter can be imagined. Every day is the unit and home two lines, some people gradually feel overwhelmed, limb weakness, mental lethargy, and in serious cases, even accompanied by lower limb swelling and other physical symptoms. People are always used to blame the cause on busy work, but I do not know a special disease – Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, but also become women encounter mid-life crisis alternative causes. The human “engine” idle, the consequences are very serious Ms. Chen in a large state-owned enterprises as an office clerk, although the daily work is to send and receive letters, organize documents, but in recent months, she increasingly feel overwhelmed, just arrived at the office in the morning feel like not awake, to noon is already exhausted. In the evening, when she returned home after work, she was so tired that she wanted to go to bed immediately. Not only is her energy low, even her appetite has become very poor, and she is not interested in delicious food. What scares her even more is that her feet swell up every afternoon and sometimes she can’t even put on her shoes. Although each symptom is “insignificant”, but if they appear together, it is enough to make people scared. A sense of foreboding came over her. After a thorough examination at the hospital, the doctor gave a very unfamiliar name for the disease – Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. This is an autoimmune disease that occurs in the thyroid gland, where the normal thyroid tissue is attacked by the autoimmune system, causing hypothyroidism. The thyroid gland is known as the “engine” of the human body, and adequate amounts of thyroid hormones are important for maintaining the normal metabolism of the three major substances (sugar, protein and fat) in the body and for maintaining adequate energy and stamina. Ms. Chen’s series of symptoms are all caused by the idling of the “engine”. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis – a special kind of “hypothyroidism” When it comes to the thyroid gland, the public is no stranger to hyperthyroidism, thyroid nodules and other common diseases that people are familiar with. However, when it comes to hypothyroidism, people know very little about it. The disease was reported in 1912 by the Japanese physician Hashimoto, hence the name Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. The disease progresses slowly, and when the disease is in its early stages, patients often have a diffuse enlargement of the thyroid gland, which is hard and well-defined. Many people have a transient manifestation of hyperthyroidism. However, after a short period of “splendor”, all body functions fall into decline, especially energy and strength, with symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, and drowsiness appearing one after another. As the disease progresses, patients may also experience dry skin, coldness, swelling, etc. Men may have a decreased libido, and women may have irregular menstruation. The reason for this is that the normal thyroid tissue is attacked by the immune system due to an autoimmune reaction, and thyroid hormone synthesis and secretion are inadequate. In terms of the nature of the disease, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is a special kind of “hypothyroidism”, so exogenous thyroxine must be introduced to compensate for the lack of synthesis by the body itself. For patients in the acute phase, glucocorticoids can be used under medical supervision to increase thyroid hormone levels by suppressing the autoimmune response. For patients with longer duration of illness and irreversible damage to the thyroid gland, thyroid tablets should be taken to maintain the normal metabolism of the body. The various hormones synthesized by the human endocrine system have a “four-two punch” effect, and thyroxine is no exception, so the dosage and timing of the medication are very important and must be guided by an endocrinologist.