Goiter

GOITER

GENERAL INFORMATION

The definition of a goiter is the enlargement of a thyroid gland. If you have ever seen on or a picture of one you would definantly think this crazy lump is cancerous. Actually, goiters are not cancerous at all, they are just enlargements of the glands. Reasons for getting goiters can be from the levels of the thyroid hormone being normal, way too high, or way too low. The most common cause of a goiter is from lack of iodine in the daily diet.

SYMPTOMS

If the goiter is very small, signs and symptoms may not be noticable at all. They might not even need to be treated. But, for goiters that are larger the most common symptoms are: Visible swelling at the neck, hoarsness in throat, tightening in neck, coughing, and or difficulty swallowing and breathing.

CAUSES

There are numerous amounts of reasons why one may develop a goiter. The most common are: Iodine deficiency in the daily diet when a person is not getting the amount of iodine needed, it is important to have iodine in your diet because it helps to produce the thyroid hormones.

Another reason is Grave's Disease which we talked about in the last section. Thyroid cancer, pregnancy, and inflammation are other causes of developing a goiter.

DIAGNOSIS

The diagnosis of a goiter can be done in several ways. The main one is a hormone test. Blood tests are done to determine the levels in the thyroid to see if they are normal, overactive, or underactive. Antibody test can also be done which is to look for abnormal antibodies in the body because that is also a reason why a goiter can form. Ultrasound and thyroid scanning can also diagnose a goiter.

TREATEMENT

Some of the treatement that can be done to reduce the goiter size is to observe and watch the size over time, take medications for over active and under active thyroid glands, to help reduce the inflammation. Surgery is also an alternative and part of the thyroid gland will be removed.