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The 25th May marks World Thyroid Day, which is a great opportunity to be raising awareness on thyroid disease.
The World Health Organization estimates that 750 million people in the world have some form of thyroid disease, including 1 in 20 people in the UK, but as many as 60% are undiagnosed. And that’s not good!
This is just one reason why we need to carry on sharing information and raising awareness about the condition and encourage anyone with symptoms of hypothyroidism or hyperthyrodism to get checked out.
But with a FULL thyroid panel. Not just TSH, but Free T3, Free T4, TPOAB, TGAB and Reverse T3 if possible, too.
Symptoms for hypothyroidism include ongoing fatigue, muscle aches and pains, sensitivity to cold, depression, weight gain, sleep disturbances, low libido, dry skin, hair and nails and never feeling fully well.
Symptoms for hyperthyroidism include anxiety, palpitations, unexplained weight loss, flushes, irritability and sensitivity to heat.
For those of us already diagnosed, we can gain awareness about how to check our thyroid glands regularly for any abnormalities, what vitamins may help us and what tests we need to ensure our doctors are doing on us.
For hypothyroidism especially, we should also be aware of what results we are looking for; a TSH below 2 is preferable, with a Free T3 in the top quarter of the range and Free T4 mid-range or a bit higher. We should also be determining if our hypothyroidism is autoimmune, as this can affect the approach in treatment.
We should also share any resources we’ve found helpful.
They have resourceful information that can help you to make steps in improving your health and embrace being your own advocate, which is incredibly important to do.
World Thyroid Day is about creating awareness of thyroid disease and disorders as a whole – for those going undiagnosed, for those going untreated or undertreated and for those doing well like me, but can always learn some more about this far-reaching condition.
You can click on the hyperlinks in the above post to learn more and see references to information given.
Written by Rachel, The Invisible Hypothyroidism
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Rachel Hill, Thyroid Patient Expert and Advocate, blogger and author, has Six 2018 WEGO Health Award Nominations. She is a highly ranked writer appearing in the Top Hypothyroidism Websites and Top Thyroid Websites 2018, with relevant qualifications and certificates in Diet and Nutrition, whilst also currently studying Life Coaching, Motivational Speaking, Reflexology and more. She has worked with The National Academy of Hypothyroidism, The BBC, The Mighty, Dr. Hedberg, Thyroid UK and ThyroidChange, to name just a few. She is well recognised as a trusted and useful contributor to the thyroid community.