What Are Thyroid Diseases

The thyroid gland is called a butterfly-shaped gland in the front and side of the trachea in the anterior part of our throat. The thyroid gland is the largest of the glands that supply hormones throughout the body and is one of the most important organs that cause changes in the body. It is not palpable during examination, but in some cases, at the stages of discomfort, large and small nodules form on this gland and begin to feel palpable. In terms of iodine deficiency in Turkey, there are thyroid-related diseases that are encountered in everyone, as a regional and endemic disease. The job of the thyroid gland is to secrete thyroid hormone. The task of the thyroid hormone is to ensure development in children in developmental age, and to manage all health metabolic conditions of the person in adults. It helps to transport oxygen to the tissues. It regulates heart rhythm and beat rate. It ensures the development of the baby while in the mother's womb. It provides the brain development of the baby in the mother's womb.

Thyroid Diseases; goiter, toxic goiter, thyroid goiter, Hashimoto's thyroid disease, nodular goiter, internal goiter, graves' disease are diseases that have many types and are all common in our country. The primary reason for this is iodine deficiency, and the second reason is stress. Although we live in an iodine-deficient region as a country, eating foods that are not rich in iodine is the most fundamental factor in the emergence of these diseases. Iodine deficiency is most evident in foods such as cabbage, brussels sprouts, turnips and radishes, which are low in iodine and cause some problems when consuming such foods. Another problem is that seafood has iodine-supporting minerals but is not consumed by people who are prone to thyroid disease.

Thyroid diseases are a very wide and varied subject. Goiter is one of the most common thyroid disorders caused by iodine deficiency. All thyroid diseases, especially goiter, are more common in women. To be expressed in numbers, if thyroid diseases are seen in five women, they occur in one man. Although it occurs less frequently in men, the probability of malignant thyroid diseases is found to be higher than in women. The prevalence of these diseases in our country is that there is a solution and treatment for about ninety percent of these diseases and they are benign.