This common medical condition is one in which the thyroid gland, situated close to the Adam’s apple in the neck, is responsible for producing hormones T3 and T4. Essentially, an increase in the production of thyroid hormones affects the body’s cells and there are many symptoms that people suffering from hyperthyroidism may exhibit.  However, the underlying cause of hyperthyroidism can differ from person to person.

Since thyroid hormones affects your body’s cells, your metabolism is also affected and this can have a direct effect on your weight. If you are diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, you should learn to recognise the symptoms.

One vital organ where the effects of hyperthyroidism are more pronounced is your heart.  Your heart rate may increase, leading to palpitations, shortness of breath and chest pain.

What causes thyroid disorder?
Many people who are diagnosed with hyperthyroidism are affected by an autoimmune disorder called Graves’ disease.  And in a small percentage, this thyroid disorder is caused because of a condition called nodular thyroid disease.  A less frequent disorder happens because of viral or bacterial infections, causing an inflamed thyroid gland.

Your body’s immune system defends your body by producing antibodies that attack foreign substances found in your body. However in Graves’ disease, the autoimmune system produces antibodies mistakenly against the thyroid gland treating it as a foreign body. This causes a thyroid disorder, increases its size and causes excessive T3 and T4 hormone production.

Sometimes a part of the thyroid gland can be affected by disease and may be enlarged and painless. This enlarged portion of the thyroid gland develops nodules as the disease progresses untreated. These nodules are visible upon examination and may spread to the whole gland, which may or may not be cancerous. This condition is called “Toxic Nodular Goiter.”

Symptoms of the thyroid disorder hyperthyroidism
Besides the above-mentioned symptoms, several other indicators may persist.  The more common are weight loss despite a voracious appetite, irritability, sleeplessness, diarrhea, muscle weakness leading to trembling hands, inability to tolerate heat and excessive sweating.

At the end of the day, you may feel feverish and experience extreme exhaustion but unable to sleep.  Help is at hand and you should explore the possibilities of finding alternate solutions to alleviate the ill effects of hyperthyroidism.

The tell-tale signs are caused by the imbalance created in the body’s metabolism by the production of excessive thyroid hormones. These hormones control how fast or slow our metabolic rate runs, and consequently, how much weight we gain or lose. You need to learn how to recognise the effects of an overactive thyroid in your body.

One of the main effects is a racing, fast, and maybe even irregular heartbeat. This is because the thyroid hormone levels are among the factors which control the pace and regularity of your heartbeat.

What Is Behind An Overactive Thyroid?
The most common cause is an autoimmune condition known as Grave’s disease. Autoimmune disorders are a collection of diseases characterized by an abnormally active immune system that attacks parts of your body. In this instance, it attacks the thyroid gland increasing its size and causing an excess production and release of T3 and T4.

In some other rare instances, the excessive release of thyroid hormones is caused by a viral or a bacterial inflammation of the thyroid gland.

Sometimes, the gland is not diffusely hyperactive. A part of the thyroid gland may proliferate and show hyperactivity. This overactive segment can be felt as a single nodule in the neck. There are also cases where the whole gland is transformed into masses or multiple nodules which may or may not progress into a cancer. If this nodular enlarged gland is secreting excessive thyroid hormones, then the condition is known as “Toxic Nodular Goitre”.

Thyroid Symptoms and Signs.
An overactive thyroid may present by a variety of symptoms, the most peculiar being weight loss despite an increased appetite. If your thyroid is overactive, you might find yourself to be more irritable and short-tempered than usual. You might also feel slightly feverish, and feel muscle weakness and exhaustion at the end of the day.

Some other well-recognised symptoms of an overactive thyroid are: shortness of breath, palpitations (awareness of your heartbeat), tachycardia (rapidly beating heart), chronic inability to sleep, and hand tremors. Some sufferers of hyperthyroidism also experience a mild form of diarrhoea. But do not let these symptoms scare you.

As you will see when you explore our website, there are many natural solutions that can help you get a handle on your overactive thyroid and improve your quality of life.

There are many people who have a diet that contains too much sugar and refined carbohydrates. These foods are not good for thyroid function, since they do not have any nutrients that are needed for the thyroid to convert the foods into what the thyroid needs to work properly. Many foods also contain chemical pollutants, pesticides, mercury, chlorine and fluoride, all of which can have a very damaging effect on the thyroid gland.

Interference With the Normal Function of the Thyroid Gland

Vegetable oils are highly processed, and they can be found in many manufactured products on your local store shelves. Many of these oils are made from soybeans. The molecular structure of the oil is changed when it is exposed to extremely high temperatures. This causes damage to the thyroid cells in your body.

When you are shopping at your local store, read all the labels on the processed food you are about to purchase. Most labels say the product contains vegetable oil, hydrogenated fat, partially hydrogenated fat, or margarine or shortening, but what the label is not telling you is that somewhere in that product is soybean oil.

Thyroid function is hindered by processed oils because:
a) Secretion of the thyroid hormone is blocked
b) Circulation is interfered with
c) The response from the cell to the hormone is altered

If something is interfering with your hormone and cholesterol levels, you can be sure it will also interfere with the function and production of your thyroid hormones.

If you are a vegetarian that indulges in soybean products, you may want to add more of a variety of beans and lentils to what you are now consuming in your diet. Since amino acids are a protein that you need in your diet as a vegetarian, and grains have these amino acids, add grains to your beans and lentils.

Besides being genetically modified, soybeans and soybean products are very difficult to digest. Instead of soybeans, consider buying organic tofu for a change-up in your diet. Organic tofu is not genetically modified, and is easier to digest since the soybeans are fermented.

To keep your thyroid functioning properly, and aid in losing weight, be sure to read all labels and avoid those foods that will deplete your energy and overall health.

Did you know that the number of times your heart beats is dependent on how your thyroid is functioning? The heart is regulated by hormones, and if the hormones in your thyroid are not working properly, your heart can beat faster and irregularly. If your heart beats faster, it is due to our thyroidal hormones being out of whack. Our bodies and cells function according to how our thyroidal hormones are acting at any given time.

Hyperthyroidism is caused by the thyroid glands excreting too many thyroidal hormones. There may be many different reasons for hyperthyroidism to occur, but every person that has hyperthyroidism has the same exact signs and symptoms.

What Causes Hyperthyroidism?

Hyperthyroidism is in many cases caused by Grave’s Disease. Grave’s Disease causes the thyroid gland to enlarge, which then causes the thyroid to excrete an excess of thyroidal hormones. Grave’s Disease is an autoimmune disease, causing a person’s immune system to attack and fight their own thyroid gland. Excess amounts of the thyroidal hormone are then secreted.

Hyperactivity of the entire thyroid gland is not always responsible for hyperthyroidism. A single nodule inside the thyroid gland can also cause hyperthyroidism. These nodules are lumps or excess tissue masses in the thyroid glands, and can sometimes cause cancer. If the lumps are cancerous, the excess amounts of hormones secreted at that stage is called “Toxic Nodular Goiter”.

Thyroiditis, another cause of hyperthyroidism, is a very painful inflammation of the thyroid glands caused by a virus or bacteria.

Hyperthyroidism Signs and Symptoms

People that have hyperthyroidism tend to eat more and gain weight due to an appetite increase. They may also have a higher-than-normal body temperature and be exhausted at the day’s end. Irritability and anger can also be signs of hyperthyroidism.

Other symptoms of hyperthyroidism are more frequent bowel movements, loss of weight, hair loss, being nervous, unable to sleep, heart palpitations, trembling hands, and weak muscles.

Symptoms of an Under-Active Thyroid

You may dismiss the idea of having an under-active thyroid if your symptoms include gaining weight, you are extremely tired, or if you have constipation. You may be surprised to find out that these are common symptoms of an under-active thyroid. When your thyroid gland is working slowly and isn‘t up to par, you may also suffer depression and find that you are slowly losing your hair. You may want to think again if you have contributed all these symptoms to something else; you may indeed have an under-active thyroid. Under-active thyroid symptoms often mimic other diseases.

To boost your metabolism and help your under-active thyroid to work again, get up off the couch and do some exercises every day. Walking, running, bicycling, and swimming are just what your thyroid needs to function at full speed. Make sure that you are eating right too, and following an all-natural diet. Exercise and eating right will boost your metabolism and kick-start your thyroid.

Lose Weight With A Natural Diet

Weight gain is not uncommon with an under-active thyroid, and can certainly be an unwanted side effect. Under-active thyroid, also known as hypothyroidism, can be cured by regulating your diet. Eating an all-natural diet full of fruits and vegetables and drinking plenty of water and fresh fruit juice will help your body eliminate the toxins that are affecting your thyroid, which in turn will help you lose unwanted weight. A natural diet will also prevent hypothyroidism, and help prevent you from gaining extra weight.

The Internet is a great place to look for natural ways to cure your under-active thyroid. There are many websites that will give you information on how to lose weight naturally, along with effective ways to keep off the weight. Stay away from fad diets that promise to help you lose weight too quickly. Appetite suppressants, such as Acai berry are also not recommended, since they can cause you to suppress your diet for too long, upsetting your metabolism, and aggravating your under-active thyroid.

Some symptoms of Graves’ disease are weight loss, tiredness, heart palpitations, and hunger. It is uncertain why people develop Graves’ disease, but doctors often prescribe medications such as Tapazole and PTU. These medications shut down the thyroid and mask the symptoms. Surgery and radioactive iodine are also ways doctors try to eliminate Graves’ disease.

While these solutions may work to make people feel better and end their hyperthyroid symptoms, the reasons why people develop hyperthyroidism and Graves’ disease remain unanswered. Since your thyroid organ controls your body’s hormones, your metabolism, pituitary gland, and the hypothalamus will not work the way they should. Your body temperature will also be irregular.

Before you have surgery, you and your doctor should figure out why your body is not functioning correctly. Talk to your doctor about your symptoms before proceeding with any medications.

Years of poor nutrition and acid build-up in your body are reasons that diseases develop. Diseases are caused by the un-balancing of the human body.

Develop a Healthy Body, Eliminate Disease

An alkaline state, which is a ph level 7.36, means your body is healthy. According to American microbiologist and nutrition Dr. Robert O.Young, Ph.d, ph levels are low when your body is full of toxic waste.

Eating acidic foods makes your system work slowly, which can then create numerous health problems, since your body is out of sync. Graves’ disease is a warning sign that something is not right in your body.

Dr Young’s research indicates that an alkaline-balanced body is able to keep germs, toxins, bacteria, mold, fungus, yeast and viruses from attacking it. Oxygen and nutrients are brought to your cells through your blood, so a ph level of 7.36 is needed for the blood to properly perform.

Health problems can be avoided by keeping your body healthy so it can fight off toxins and poisons. High acidic levels in the body can cause it to weaken and deteriorate, so that the body is unable to eliminate the toxins.

Changing your diet and the way you live can balance your body and stop these toxins from causing health problems.

Get rid of stress, refined carbohydrates, alcohol, sugar, meats, cigarettes, dairy products, processed foods and prescription drugs that can cause high acid levels in your body.

Graves’ disease can be reversed, and other diseases eliminated. For optimal health, there are five important things you need to do to rid your body of harmful acids, along with a change in your eating habits.

A qualified doctor specializing in thyroid disease and hormonal issues should have the skills to help diagnose and manage your thyroid disease. The doctor will listen to your concerns about your symptoms, and not dismiss them as irrelevant or “all in your mind”. The right diagnosis and treatment will help get your thyroidal hormones rebalanced and end your suffering.

The doctor will start you on low levels of replacement thyroid hormones to treat hypothyroidism. The medications will be increased until your symptoms disappear. Starting on low levels leaves room for trial and error, so the drug levels can be increased and decreased as needed.

The drug most often used to treat hypothyroidism is called Levothyroxine. Since your thyroid gland isn’t functioning properly, this drug replaces thyroidal hormones. Levothyroxine helps your body achieve normal blood values of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, (TSH). Have your blood levels checked every year to maintain the right dosage of medication.

Dealing With Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

If you experience sweating, sudden weight loss, or extreme restlessness, you may be taking the wrong dosage of replacement hormones. Your hormone levels may be too high, causing your thyroid to become over-active, one problem with taking replacement thyroid hormones.

It takes patience and a strong will to deal with symptoms of hypothyroidism. Constipation, gaining weight, depression, hair loss, and puffiness in your body can be side effects of hypothyroidism. Medication isn’t the only way to deal with symptoms though. There are natural ways to motivate your thyroid to work properly.

To get your thyroid back on track, stay away from refined foods. Eat red meat as little as possible; instead, get protein from fish and beans, and cook with olive oil. Stay away from trans fat and soy products. Experts think they interfere with the benefits of medications used to treat hypothyroidism. Other foods that may not allow function of the thyroid include peanuts, pine nuts, and greens such as spinach, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and mustard greens. Instead, consume foods high in vitamin B, such as sea vegetables, fresh vegetables, and whole grains.

Taking supplements such as a multi-mineral and daily multivitamin, along with fish oil, alpha-lipoic acid, L-tyrosine, and probiotics can help thyroid function. Green tea, guggul, and coleus are herbal supplements that can help thyroid function. Unless you get the okay from your doctor, avoid iodine or bladder whack, and other natural treatments. These treatments could interfere with thyroid medication.

Sometimes it takes awhile for hypothyroidism to develop, and it may take time to get your thyroid functioning again. When you are feeling better, the medication is doing its job, and you should continue to take the medication. You may have to continue to take the medication for quite some time, so that you can overcome hypothyroidism.

The Thyroid Stimulating Hormone initially produces thyroid hormones. A thyroid test measures TSH levels. High levels of TSH are an indication of hyperthyroidism. Low levels of TSH are an indication of hypothyroidism.

Home Thyroid Test Benefits

Here are very important reasons you may want to take a home thyroid test.

1. If you are losing too much weight too quickly, you may have hyperthyroidism. Other indications of hyperthyroidism include being tired, agitated or unable to sleep, as well as body shakes, loss of muscle mass, and heart palpitations. Often times these symptoms are dismissed, since they are hard to diagnose directly to an overactive thyroid gland. The only way to detect a problem with hyperthyroidism is to regularly take a thyroid test. On the other hand, hypothyroidism can cause depression, weight gain, loss of memory, dry skin, and hair loss. The only way to detect a problem with an under-active thyroid gland is to take a thyroid test that will detect hypothyroidism.

2. Studies indicate that nearly 13 million Americans have thyroid problems, yet they aren‘t even aware of having said thyroid problems. With a home thyroid test, it is easy to check your thyroid. You don‘t have to spend time and money going to the doctor or hospital. With a TSH test at home, you can check if your TSH levels are too high, too low, or fall within the normal hormone levels. If there are indications of hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism, you can talk to you doctor about treatment.

3. Many people are being diagnosed with medical problems and treated for them, but the underlying problem still exists. Doctors are not checking the patient’s thyroid to see if that may be the cause of the patient’s health issues. Taking a thyroid test in the convenience of your own home will indicate whether or not you have a different problem than what your doctor has diagnosed you with.

To take the home thyroid test, you only need to place a few drops of blood in the collection chamber. The sample is collected at home, then sent in a special mailing envelope to a lab for testing. This is a much more convenient test done by yourself, rather than spending time waiting in a lab.

If you have any of the above symptoms, take a home thyroid test. You can then get the proper treatment you need for your hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. Check out our home TSH test, designed for both men and women, and take the steps to a more healthy you.

Causes of Hyperthyroidism

The major cause for hyperthyroidism is Grave’s Disease, an auto-immune disease caused by the enlargement of the thyroidal gland and thus causing over-secretion of the thyroid hormone. The inflammation of the thyroid glands due to viruses or bacteria can also cause of hyperthyroidism. Postpartum Thyroiditis and the anti-arrhythmic drug Amiodarone are also said to cause overproduction of thyroid hormones as is “Toxic Nodular Goiter,” which most commonly causes hyperthyroidism in older adults.

How do you know if you have hyperthyroidism?

Normal symptoms of hyperthyroidism are weakness, fatigue, itchy skin and in some cases, a loss of softer body hair. If not treated, these symptoms can worsen and develop into bone and heart issues. Patients suffering from hyperthyroidism tend to eat more and gain weight due to sudden increases in appetite. The disease directly affects the body’s metabolism. Other common symptoms seen in patients are weight loss, hair loss, insomnia, heart palpitations, muscle weakness, trembling hands and increased bowel movements along with nervousness and anxiety.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Hyperthyroidism

A consultation with a doctor should be scheduled as soon as you notice any of the symptoms. A doctor is able to judge and diagnose the condition through a physical examination. Treatments for the disease are readily available are very effective but will depend upon the patient’s individual condition. Drugs such as beta blockers and thyrostatics are known to control hyperthyroidism and surprisingly, home and natural remedies are also effective. Natural herbs like Black Cohosh and Nettles are among the easiest natural remedies available for treating hyperthyroidism. Some vitamin supplements are also beneficial.

Natural remedies can work as a supplement to medical treatment but they cannot replace it. Surgery is another option if medicinal remedies are ineffective. Though more radical, surgery can improve performance of the thyroid gland and relieve all the symptoms of hypothyroidism.

For all those people who want to know more about the thyroid gland and how it affects our body, you can consider it to be the regulating organ, taking care of normal physiological and teh body’s biochemical functions. This gland secretes two hormones which are an integral part of the endocrine system. Excessive secretion of these hormones by your thyroid is likely to lead to chronic hyperthyroidism.

Hyperthyroidism Symptoms

Now just imagine that the gland is secreting these hormones in greater than normal quantities. Not only is this going to derail all the normal activities of your body, but it is also going to show symptoms of hyperthyroidism, which may start with heart palpitations. In fact, your complete metabolic system is going to be over stimulated. Your metabolic rate is going to work at twice the speed, which means that your body is going to be using up energy at an increased rate. So, naturally, you are going to feel muscular weakness, palpitations of the heart, a significant weight gain, diarrhoea, weight loss in the initial stages, sweating, extreme sensitivity to hot temperatures, and becoming unusually irritated, agitated, anxious and nervous.

A large number of people are also going to find that they suffer significant weight loss, thanks to the malfunctioning of the thyroid gland. That is because you are losing body fat and stored nutrients in the muscle, extremely fast. Also, you are going to find weight gain, because your body is eating more to compensate for the energy loss.

So, if you suddenly find yourself feeling extremely hungry, with an increasing weight gain and then you find yourself with muscular weakness, insomnia, sweating, and heart palpitations, you need to see a doctor fast for proper hyperthyroidism diagnosis and Hypothyroidism treatment. You also have to make sure that you do not do any activity that is extremely strenuous. You would also need fast access to the bathroom facilities, because hyperthyroidism makes you want to empty your bladder and bowels frequently.

Hyperthyroidism can be easily diagnosed and treated as soon as you recognise the symptoms. You can also get to know more about hyperthyroidism symptoms, and treatment on a number of websites on the Internet. So, if you suspect that you are suffering from hyperthyroidism, take treatment and diagnosis steps right away!