Hashimoto Thyroiditis Case Study

My grandmother suffered with thyroid and use to always ask me if I had thyroids. I remember a time when she told me to get a quarter and some iodine to put on my stomach above my navel. She told me if it changed colors that I had thyroids. Also, because I felt so drained most of the time and would swell in my body often, she had me to consult with my physician about the matter. My grandmother was a very intelligent woman that was very health conscience about herself and her family.

Hashimoto’s Disease is a chronic Lymphocytic thyroiditis also known as autoimmune thyroiditis. It is due to chronic inflammation; the disease is a failure of the thyroid gland. Hashimoto’s disease is the most common inflammatory disorder of the thyroid and the leading cause of having hypothyroidism. The name of the disease came from a Japanese surgeon named Hashimoto Hakaru. Hakaru first described the chronic disease as Struma Lymphomatosa in a pathology report in the year 1912. Hashimoto’s Disease is a genetic trait and found to be more common in women then in men; and commonly found in women between the ages of thirty to fifty years of age. Hashimoto’s Disease can be found in children too; in the first-degree relatives that have the disease is found to have an increased incident.

Scientifically, Hashimoto’s Disease is, “a condition in which your immune system attacks your thyroid, a small gland at the base of your neck. The thyroid is a part of your endocrine system, which produces hormones that coordinate many of your body’s activities. The resulting inflammation from Hashimoto’s often leads to an under active thyroid” (Mayo Clinic.) Unfortunately, my thyroid didn’t work properly, and my body attacked it because of this.

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the thyroid. The thyroid is a small gland at the base of the neck that produces hormones and that help control most of the bodies activities. Inflammation to the thyroid, from Hashimoto’s, often leads to hypothyroidism, an underactive thyroid gland. Hashimoto’s disease is the number one cause of hypothyroidism in the United States. It mainly affects middle aged women but Hashimoto’s can affect men, women of any age, and even children (“Hashimoto’s Disease-National Library of Medicine-PubMed Health,” 2014).

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, also called Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the thyroid gland. It was named for the Japanese surgeon who discovered it in 1912 The thyroid is a small butterfly shaped gland in the front of the neck. The thyroid makes hormones called T3 and T4. These hormones regulate metabolism. The thyroid is controlled by hormones of the pituitary gland, which is also called the “master gland.” It is a pea-sized gland located in the base of the brain which, among others, makes thyroid stimulating hormone, or TSH. TSH stimulates the thyroid to make thyroid hormone. With Hashimoto’s disease, the thyroid cells are damaged resulting in the inability to make enough thyroid

Hashimoto thyroiditis is a common disease caused by hypothyroidism. The immune system cells attack the thyroid gland, causing inflammation and eventually destruction of the gland. This reduces the thyroids ability to make hormones. These hormones are known as thyroxine (T4) and tri-iodothyronine (T3) (Better health channel 2015).

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is considered an autoimmune disorder of the thyroid, first discovered in 1912, by a Japanese doctor, Hakaru Hashimoto. Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis disease is currently considered a genetically predisposed disorder caused by both environmental and endogenous conditions. Genetically predisposed Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, occurs more often in Caucasians over other ethnicities. Environmental factors that produce the autoimmune disorder are infections, disproportionate iodine intake, drugs, as well as chemical and radiation exposure, according to Syrenicz, Anhelli (2013) This paper will discuss the importance of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis disease, symptoms, Metabolic and Physiological effects, treatment options, and side effects associated with treatments.

According to one study found, this disease is seen more often in people between the ages of 45 to 65 years old.2 Another epidemiologic study also showed a female predominance of 10:1 to 20:1, and that the disease is more commonly seen in women rather than men.2, 5 During this study, 102 families were chosen to be observed and were made up of 540 individuals to determine if there is a significant genetic component to Hashimoto thyroiditis.5 While a high percentage of adults who had an autoimmune disorder such as trisomy 21 or Turner syndrome showed greater risk for having Hashimoto thyroiditis, a small group of about 20 percent had an indistinguishable clinical hypothyroidism much different from Hashimoto thyroiditis.5 Finally, an analyses of genome linkage in families with Hashimoto thyroiditis showed evidence that some loci, like chromosomes 6p and 12q, could be harboring genes that are already linked to this

L.V. is a 51-year-old Hispanic female. She is 5’4 height and 150 lbs. Patient denies pain, discomfort, or chest pain during physical assessment. Patient is allergic to Aspirin she states that she gets rashes when she takes it. She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer 5 years ago and got her thyroid glands surgically removed. Patient denies the use of tobacco and drinks 2-3 beers on special occasions. Patient works for an American Restaurant as a server, she’s been serving for over ten years. Patient states that she’ll be getting her first colonoscopy next month and she just recently got her yearly mammogram done and results were normal. Immunizations are up to date and she gets the flu shot every year. Patient has four daughters and has been happily married for 20 years. Patient denies using glasses or contacts she visits her optometrist every year and has never had a problem with her vision.

Graves’ Disease is identified as an autoimmune disorder that directly affects the thyroid gland. Characterized as the most common cause of hyperthyroidism, Graves’ Disease encompasses an overactive, enlarged thyroid gland, which produces an excess of thyroid hormones [1]. Approximately 3% of the United States population is affected by Graves’ Disease and 60-80% of patients affected with Graves’ disease are diagnosed with hyperthyroidism [2]. The approximate female to male ratio is 5/1, with majority of those cases being diagnosed in adults over the age of 20. The peak incidence of cases fall between 40-60 years old [3]. In addition, a higher incidence of Graves’ Disease appears in African Americans and persons of Asian descent as compared to Caucasians in the United States.

These patients then answered a survey that evaluated their fatigue. They all had blood drawn to get baselines of their thyroid stimulating hormone, free triiodothyronine, free levothyroxine levels, thiamine, and thiamine pyrophosphate levels. The patients were then given dosages of thiamine based on their weight, two receive oral thiamine and one received an intramuscular injection every four to seven days. The three patient had repeat surveys throughout the process to evaluate any changes in fatigue severity. After twenty days repeat blood work was drawn and the last survey was given. This group of people doing the research concluded that the thiamine given for fatigue associated with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis rectified it completely in two out of the three and decreased the amount of fatigue in one of the three. Their hypothesis, that the chronic fatigue and related disorders accompanying Hashimoto’s thyroiditis were manifestations of a mild thiamine deficiency that could be due to either a dysfunction of the active transport from the blood to the mitochondria or structural enzymatic abnormalities likely caused by immune system factors (article

Taking L-thyroxine is the main treatment mechanism; therefore, medication compliance is the one of the most important part in education. The clinical effect of L-thyroxine may include normalizing abnormalities associated with hypothyroidism. Optimal treatment of hypothyroidism may lead to improvement of various symptoms. In neuropsychological aspect, patients may show improved motor skills, myopathy and depression. With treatment, patient’s overall energy level may enhance constipation symptoms may improve and weight problem may lessen if thyroid balance was a main contributor. It has been shown that treatment of hypothyroidism would also improve lipid profiles in patients (Roe, 2015).

Hypothyroidism is not a disease itself, but is a condition that a disease state causes (Buckley & Schub, 2008). Many of the causes of hypothyroidism are related to autoimmune conditions, where the body attacks itself, rendering the thyroid useless (Raisbeck, 2009). In fact, this is the most common cause of hypothyroidism (Raisbeck, 2009). Second to autoimmune disease is overcorrection of hyperthyroidism by surgery or radiation treatment (Walker, 2009). Thyroidectomy is the third most-prevalent cause, usually for the treatment of cancer

Hashimoto's thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease where the body sees the thyroid tissue as an antigen, and therefore attacks the tissues which results in inflammation and eventual destruction of the thyroid gland (Burkhart, 2013). Hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid gland) is one of the first clinical symptoms that lead doctors to diagnose Hashimoto’s (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2016). Other symptoms can include fatigue, weight gain, hair loss, and joint pain, among other things. As diet in America gets worse, autoimmune disorders rise. The food we eat is negatively affecting our bodies, so much so that they are becoming inflamed and rejecting those foods in the form of allergies. Nutrition plays such a vital role in

Purpose: To inform what Thyroid disorder is and introduce the main two branches of it.