http://www.ksdk.com/news/health_article.aspx?storyid=80631

Ask The Doctor: Testing For Proper Thyroid Function
created: 6/14/2005 5:39:57 PM
updated: 6/14/2005 5:41:45 PM

By Kay Quinn
Healthbeat Reporter

KSDK-A butterfly-shaped gland at the base of your neck that weighs less than an ounce can affect nearly every organ in your body. It's your thyroid gland.
Here's a close look at the blood test used to determine how well your thyroid is working.

Right now, routine thyroid screening is only recommended in infants. But by age 60, 17 per cent of all women will have an underactive thyroid gland. It regulates everything from how fast your heart beats to how quickly you burn calories. A doctor can feel an enlarged thyroid gland in the neck. But a blood test, called a TSH test, can tell you how well it's functioning.

"TSH is a hormone that is released from the pituitary gland which sits right under the brain, into the blood travels to the thyroid gland and stimulates the thyroid gland to produce thyroid hormone," says Dr. Philip Cryer, a Barnes-Jewish Hospital endocrinologist.

When the thyroid is working properly, expect TSH readings to run from point five to five microunits per ml. That's normal range. If your TSH reading is over five, you may have hypothyroidism, or an underactive thyroid. If it's TSH reading are low, you may have hyperthyroidism.

"I have to point out that there are other causes of high and low TSH levels. We have to think of those," adds Dr. Cryer.

They include pituitary tumors that can drive TSH levels up. Some medicines can push TSH levels down. Fatigue is a common symptom of both underactive and overactive thyroid. But hypothyroidism, or an underactive thyroid, is the most common disorder, especially in women, and especially as they age.

"In someone who had a consistently elevated TSH over time, often with a low thyroxine level in the blood we would replace thyroid hormone even in the absence of clearcut symptoms."

Here are the symptoms of an underactive thyroid: feeling run down, slow, depressed, sluggish, cold, tired, dry skin and hair, constipation, muscle cramps and weight gain.

Signs of an overactive thyroid include: weight loss, nervousness, irritability, racing heart, hand tremors, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, increased bowel movements, muscle weakness and bulging eyes.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/health_article.aspx?storyid=80631




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