1. What is the role of the thyroid gland? What is the significance for human health? The thyroid gland is a small, butterfly-shaped organ located in front of the trachea that plays a key role in regulating many of the body’s functions. The thyroid gland makes, stores and releases thyroid hormones into the bloodstream to regulate the body’s growth, development and metabolism. These hormones are very important in keeping all the tissues and organs of the body functioning properly. They enable the body to utilize stored energy more efficiently, maintain body temperature, and keep muscles working properly. Similarly, when the thyroid gland is diseased, the corresponding functions of the body are affected. For example, hyperthyroidism patients will have symptoms of hyper appetite and significant weight loss; hypothyroidism patients will have symptoms such as memory loss, mental retardation and slow reaction; more serious thyroid cancer will pose a threat to people’s lives. 2. Why are modern people prone to thyroid-related diseases? Thyroid gland is an endocrine organ that secretes hormones and is regulated by human hormones. With the accelerated pace of life of modern people and the dramatic increase of pressure in all aspects, the human body is prone to endocrine disorders, the corresponding hormone levels will also change, thus bringing adverse stimulation to the gland, leading to a high risk of thyroid diseases. In addition, the development of thyroid diseases is closely related to the environment in which a person lives, such as ionizing radiation and other factors will also increase the occurrence of thyroid diseases. In modern society, factors such as smoking and drinking, irregular life, obesity, lack of exercise, unhealthy diet and so on may be the reasons for the increased incidence of thyroid cancer. 3.Why are there more and more thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer? The pathogenesis of thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer has not been thoroughly researched, and the reasons for the increasing incidence of thyroid cancer may be multifaceted and controversial in the professional field. The main pathologic types of thyroid cancer include papillary, follicular, medullary, poorly differentiated, and undifferentiated carcinomas, and the increase in incidence is mainly in papillary carcinomas, with a significant increase in the proportion of patients with papillary microcarcinomas of the thyroid (≤1 cm). Some authors believe that due to the improvement and application of medical detection and diagnostic technology (e.g., ultrasound detection and ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration), more and more patients with early-stage thyroid cancer have been diagnosed; however, some studies have also shown that the incidence rate of late-stage thyroid cancer and early-stage thyroid cancer are also increasing, and even the number of deaths has increased, so that the increase in incidence rate of thyroid cancer can not be fully explained by the improvement of detection technology alone. The increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer cannot be fully explained by improved detection technology alone. Therefore, there is no definite conclusion about the increase in the incidence rate of thyroid cancer. 4. What tests are needed to confirm the diagnosis of thyroid cancer? Thyroid ultrasound is an effective means of detecting thyroid cancer. Among other things, thyroid ultrasound can detect tiny masses that are not palpable by palpation. For medullary carcinoma, CEA and calcitonin tests are of tremendous value. In addition, CT, MRI and other tests can assist in determining the extent of metastasis and invasion of thyroid cancer help. The diagnosis will also be refined by selecting the appropriate tests prior to surgery on a case-by-case basis. However, the final diagnosis of thyroid cancer is still inseparable from the “gold standard” – pathologic diagnosis. Pathological diagnosis is made through fine-needle puncture and other means to obtain the tissue of the lump, and after a series of processing to make a pathological section; under the high power microscope, the pathologist can see the morphology of the cancer cells clearly, and then make clear the type and stage of thyroid cancer, and after obtaining the pathology specimen, routine, immunohistochemistry or genetic testing can be carried out to help the diagnosis. After obtaining the pathology specimen, routine, immunohistochemical or genetic tests can also be performed to help diagnose the cancer, which will provide scientific help for the subsequent treatment by clinicians. 5.How to protect the thyroid gland? What are the dietary and lifestyle considerations? What we suggest is that when there is a clear family history, people should have regular physical examination of the thyroid gland, including ultrasound and thyroid function tests, especially for family history of medullary thyroid cancer, routine physical examination of procalcitonin and carcinoembryonic antigen is needed; for the ionizing radiation, it is necessary to reduce the unnecessary radiological examination, especially for children and adolescents, and when it is necessary to improve the relevant imaging examination, other tests such as ultrasound, MRI, etc. can be used. For ionizing radiation, it is necessary to reduce unnecessary radiological examinations, especially for children and adolescents. When it is necessary to complete the relevant imaging examinations, other examinations such as ultrasound and MRI can be used as a substitute for X-ray and CT examinations. In addition, in the event of a leakage from a nuclear power plant or an explosion of a nuclear weapon, one should be instructed to evacuate from the contaminated area as soon as possible and do the follow-up treatment. Apart from this, no food or drug has been found to prevent the occurrence of thyroid cancer.