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Thyroid Diseases

Hypothyroidism

The term hypothyroidism is used when the thyroid gland is diseased and is not making enough thyroid hormone. This means that the body's cells are not stimulated to be active enough.

Symptoms

The typical symptoms of hypothyroidism include:

However, these are very nonspecific symptoms. Lots of people have one or another of these symptoms with perfectly normal thyroid function.

Causes

Many times people develop an underactive thyroid and we don't really know the exact cause.

Hashimoto's Thyroiditis

The most common cause is another autoimmune disease called Hashimoto's thyroiditis. This is another autoimmune disease in which the body's own immune system attacks the thyroid gland. This time the attack destroys the thyroid gland, resulting in an inability to make a normal amount of thyroid hormone. Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis can both be inherited, and in fact they can both be found in the same families - one member has Hashimoto's thyroiditis and another member has Graves' disease.

Complications from treatment of hyperthyroidism

A common cause of hypothyroidism is the treatment of an overactive thyroid, either with surgical removal of the thyroid gland or intentional destruction of the thyroid gland with radioactive iodine.

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Last Reviewed: Jan 28, 2008

Case Western Reserve University Thomas A Murphy, MD, FACP, FACE
Director and Associate Professor
Endocrinology Division
MetroHealth Medical Center
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University
Thomas A Murphy, MD, FACP, FACE