whats hashimoto thyroiditis?

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hi guys, whats hashimoto thyroiditis and does it cause harm in future?

what things would u have to change in ur lifestyle?

does anyone else have this?

x

Hashimoto's thyroiditis is a form of hypothyroidism in adults. It's primarily caused by chronic autoimmune thyroiditis, and you see it in countries that are iodine-deficient. It can also be caused by an iodine-deficient diet, surgical removal of the thyroid, and destruction of the thyroid by radioactive iodine. Treatment requires replacement therapy with thyroid hormones (from Richard Lehne's "Pharmacology for Nursing Care").

Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Here are a couple links:

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic949.htm

http://www.medicinenet.com/hashimotos_thyroiditis/article.htm

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/432806

Specializes in cardiac/telemetry.
hi guys, whats hashimoto thyroiditis and does it cause harm in future?

what things would u have to change in ur lifestyle?

does anyone else have this?

x

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's years ago and I had the same reaction. I did LOTS of research on it; they caught it extremely early. There isn't much change right now but things to watch for. Feel free to send a private message with any uestions and I will be happy to talk to you.

Good Luck (also a senior nursing student)

Specializes in Surgical/MedSurg/Oncology/Hospice.

I have Hashimoto's, and the only lifestyle change I've had to make is taking Synthroid everyday;)

there is some correlation with Celiac disease/gluten sensitivity

thanks guys.

spankie- i would really like to pm u but dont know how to.

im quite confused about this condition. in fact would it cause problems in future whilst nursing?

im just worried atmo cos iv took leave from uni for 6 months cos of me anxiety phase. is this something else that occie health will pick up and again will i be fit for practice? arrggh its one thing after another for me!

Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

you can find out information about this yourself from these links posted on this sticky thread:

in particular, search in the websites under the physician sponsored sites, the merck manuals, some of the consumer information sites, and the a.d.a.m. health encyclopedia. you should be able to find plenty of information about this disease, it's treatment and the tests ordered for it.

Specializes in Education, Administration, Magnet.

I think I watched something about that on 'House' Tuesday night.

Funny to come across this question...My daughter, age 15, was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis not quite two weeks ago. I'm in pre-nursing and have recently gotten a crash course in it. Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disease. The patient's immune system forms antibodies against itself, in this case against one's own thyroid.The thyroid function is eventually destroyed. The thyroid becomes less and less able to secrete thyroid hormone. The production of thyroid hormone normally depends on a feedback loop with the pituitary gland which secretes Thyroid stimulating hormone(TSH) to stimulate the thyroid to produce thyroid hormone. In Hashimotos, the level of thyroid hormone produced becomes abnormally low. The pituitary reads this as a signal that if thyroid is low, it needs to stimulate the thyroid. The pituitary keeps sending out lots of TSH but thyroid hormone production remains low. My daughter presented with very typical signs of Hashimotos disease: An enlarged thyroid gland, abnormally low levels of T4, and abnormally high levels of TSH. Her level of antibodies specific to HD was abnormally high. Treatment is lifelong thyroid hormone replacement. Contrary to an earlier post, Hashimotos affects people of all ages. While the majority of HD patients are women ages 30-60 it can and does affect people of all ages and sexes including children.

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