Hyperthyroidism
Stacey Vaniyapurakal
Molloy College
Case Study
Aliza Young, a 25 year old female, was admitted to the hospital with complaints of rapid heart rate and palpitations. She states that her “heart has been jumping out of her chest”. She has been feeling more anxious and irritable as well. Upon assessment, Ms. Young’s skin appears flushed, moist, and warm. Ms. Young complains of feeling “overheated” and has been sweating profusely. She feels weak, has experienced an unusual amount of weight loss, and abnormal menstruation. Both the nurse and physician have suspicions of hyperthyroidism. Patient has no family history of thyroid disease. After lab results were received, the TSH
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Grave’s disease has an effect on eight times the more women than men (Hinkle and Cheever, 2014). Toxic multinodular goiter, which presents a protrusion near the thyroid as a sign of excess thyroid hormone, and Toxic adenoma are more common to occur in areas prevalent to iodine deficiencies (Ghandour and Reust, 2011).
Thyroiditis is due to an abnormal synthesis of the hormone or excess ingestion (Burton, 2011). Hyperthyroidism can also occur due to viral infections such as a common cold, mumps and influenza.
Clinical Manifestations
Hyperthyroidism has a varying group of signs and symptoms. Because the thyroid has an effect on all functions of the body and metabolism, many things occur through They can range from nervousness to exophthalmos. The most important symptom is tachycardia. If there is an unexplained or persistent bout of tachycardia, it should be monitored carefully for any signs of other disorders or diseases. One sign of hyperthyroidism seen often is exophthalmos or proptosis, the protrusion of a single or both eye. This is an opthalmyopathy that can go along with lid lag, photophobia, diplopia and irritation (Hinkle & Cheever, 2014¬). This is due to edema in the tissues surround the eyes. Other symptoms of hyperthyroidism are palpitations, tremors, shortness of breath and dyspnea, muscle weakness, flushing, diaphoresis, irregular menstruation (amenorrhea or oligomenorrhea), hyperventilation, and increased body temperature or heat
Graves ' disease is an immune system disorder that results in the overproduction of thyroid hormones (hyperthyroidism). The thyroid gland is an important organ of the endocrine system. The gland is located at the front of the neck above where the collarbones meet. This gland releases the hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), which control body metabolism. Controlling metabolism is important for regulating mood, weight, and mental and physical energy levels. When the body makes too much thyroid hormone, the condition is called hyperthyroidism. Graves disease is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism and is most common in women over age 20. But the disorder can occur at any age and can affect men as well. Some of the symptoms of Graves diseases are
Experts aren’t sure the exact cause of Graves’ disease because it is an autoimmune disease. There are certain risk factors associated with Graves’ disease which include genetics, gender, age, pregnancy, mental stress, and smoking. People who have family history of this disease are more likely to develop it. Also females are more likely than males to acquire Graves’ disease and onset of the disease usually occurs after the age of 20. Anatomy affected by this disease is the thyroid gland which is part of the endocrine system. It is located at the back of the neck, below the Adam’s apple. This disease doesn’t destroy the thyroid gland, instead an antibody called thyrotropin receptor antibody makes the thyroid produce large amounts of hormone. The thyroid produces two hormones, thyroxine and triiodothyronine. These hormones affect many body systems and play a key role in regulating the body’s metabolic rate. Excessive secretion of these hormones is what causes the signs and symptoms that have already been described.
In fact, mild hyperthyroidism may produce severe disability in patients with underlying heart disease. Hence, all patients with unexplained cardiac failure or atrial arrhythmias should be examined for thyrotoxicosis.
Mrs. J.P. is a 30-year-old African-American female who presents to the local health department for her annual women’s health exam and establishment of primary care. Mrs. J.P. requests a pregnancy test be performed due to her recent absence of menses. Mrs. J.P. states she and her spouse have been attempting pregnancy for approximately 3 months; however, with each missed cycle, pregnancy tests have been negative despite corresponding notable fatigue. Mrs. J.P. explains her current uninsured status and frustration with walk-in clinics stating recent use of multiple clinics for “simple things” without resolution. Mrs. J.P. lists her primary complaint as difficulty sleeping due to significant heart pounding in addition to her fertility concern. When encouraged to also explain recent symptoms requiring walk-in clinic assessment and completion of a health history form, she explains her ongoing diarrhea, current hand tremor, and recent onset of eye pain. She identifies all symptoms as explainable as Mrs. J.P. attributes a gluten allergy to her diarrhea, a family history of glucose abnormalities to her hand tremor, and seasonal allergies to her eye pain although medical assessment and diagnostics have not been performed. When encouraged to
The health care provider ordered blood work that included thyroid-stimulating hormone, triiodothyronine, thyroxine, and radioactive iodine uptake to confirm the diagnosis of hyperthyroidism. The labs returned with an elevated level of triiodothyronine and thyroxine, while the thyroid-stimulating hormone was decreased. There was also an
Commonly, problems with the thyroid involve an abnormal production level of these hormones. It is called hyperthyroidism if there the thyroid hormones are overproduced, and this can cause things like Graves’ disease, Toxic adenomas, and subacute thyroiditis (7). Hypothyroidism is the underproduction of the hormones which can be caused by an inflamed thyroid, iodine deficiency, a non-functioning thyroid gland and more. Hypothyroidism is especially dangerous in infants and newborns as the lack of these thyroid hormones can lead to mental retardation and dwarfism (7). However, in humans hypothyroidism can be caused by things such as a pituitary disorder, a defective thyroid or a lack of the gland completely. (7)
Graves' disease, which is caused by a generalized overactivity of the thyroid gland, is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism. In this condition, the thyroid gland usually is renegade, which means it has lost the ability to respond to the normal control by the pituitary gland via TSH. Graves' disease is hereditary and is up to five times more common among women than men. The triggers for Graves' disease include stress,
Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disease in which the over activity of the thyroid gland causes the overproduction of the thyroid hormone. This disease was described by Robert J. Graves a doctor from Ireland and is also known as Basedow’s disease. Even though there are several disorders that may result in hypothyroidism, grave disease is one of the most common type of hypothyroidism that occurs in 1 percent of U. S population (Anderson 2010). Furthermore, Grave disease is a disease that can affect anyone, but is more common amongst females before age 40. Concerning, grave disease will attack the immune system making antibodies that will cause the thyroid to enlarge and produce more than the amount of thyroid hormone that your body will need. These hormones that cause the thyroid to enlarge are called thyroid stimulating immunoglobulins. Thyroid stimulating immunoglobulins are antibodies that tells the thyroid gland to become more active and release excess amounts of thyroid hormone into the blood (U.S. National library of medicine).
According to the American Thyroid Association hyperthyroidism is an condition in which there is excessive amount of thyroid hormone in the body. It is also stated that another term for this problem is called Grave’s disease or thyrotoxicosis, and thyrotoxicosis is when there is high levels of thyroid hormones in the blood stream. The thyroid is a small shaped butter-fly gland located in the front of the neck and that is apart of the immune system. The authors of this article talks about who is the most affected, diagnoses, and treatment of this disease.
Graves’ disease, also known as hyperthyroidism is an autoimmune disorder that occurs when antibodies overstimulate thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). Hyperstimulation of TSH receptors leads to an increased amount of circulating triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4). An increased production of T3 and T4 lead to an increased metabolic rate. This can lead to clinical manifestations of diaphoresis, heat intolerance, increased cardiac output, tachycardia, exophthalmos and weight loss. If untreated, hyperthyroidism can turn into a thyrotoxic crisis, triggered by stressful events. Thyrotoxic crisis exceeds the metabolic strains on the body. Clinical manifestations such as hyperthermia, tachycardia, and heart failure can lead to death within forty-eight
Graves disease is the swelling of the neck and protrusion of the eyes resulting from an overactive thyroid gland. Women are five times more likely to suffer from Graves disease, the most common ages are between 20 and 40 ("Graves' disease." par. 1). It is common for people with Graves disease to get it after they have had an infection or they have been under a lot of physical or mental stress. Graves disease only affects around 0.5% of the population, but it is the underlying cause of hyperthyroidism about 80% of the time (Brent, Gregory A. par. 3). Hyperthyroidism is when your thyroid is overactive, this causes an increased heartbeat and metabolism. I found this topic to be interesting because I’ve never heard of this disease before. Its name caught my attention and when I started a brief search on the disease, I wanted to deeper explore the topic. Graves disease affects many people in many different ways, which can make it hard to diagnose. Many of the small symptoms add up to this dangerous disease
Hyperthyroidism occurs when the thyroid gland, a butterfly shape in front of the neck, overproduces thyroid hormone. The thyroid gland is abundant with blood vessels and it secretes thyroid hormone (Kumar 22). Thyroid hormone influences many different internal body functions such as, metabolism, growth, development, turning food into energy, and increases body temperature. Thyroid hormone is very important for brain development and normal growth during infancy; furthermore, a newborn’s blood drawn from their heel and sent for screening determines of level of thyroid-stimulating hormone (Samuels 2). However, when the thyroid gland over produces thyroid hormone a lot of things in the body development can go wrong. The over produced thyroid hormone forces the body to expedite. It is important to know that one has hyperthyroidism, because it can result in heart, bone problems, and thyroid storm; which heart rate, blood pressure, and the increase in body temperature can be fatal. Hyperthyroidism is more common in females than males and the older a person is the more likely they will have it. Around 27 millions of American have thyroid disease, however only 14 million receive treatment. Also, stress is the main aspect that affects the thyroid gland in either over producing or under producing thyroid hormone (Kumar 22).
The symptoms that are prevalent with infants include jaundice, frequent choking, a large protruding tongue, and a puffy appearance to their face. As hypothyroidism continues to progress many infants experience constipation, poor muscle tone, and excessive sleepiness. Also, as it progresses infants may experience trouble feeding and could affect the overall growing and development of the infant. If it is goes untreated there is even a likely chance that that physical or mental disabilities will present themselves. Also, a person can experience life-threatening depression, heart failure, or coma if it goes untreated (Norman). One complication that arises from hypothyroidism is goiter, which is caused by to over production of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) from the pituitary gland. With goiter the thyroid gland becomes enlarged and requires
Since thyroid storm is merely the worsening of thyrotoxicosis, or hyperthyroidism, the pathophysiology is the same. There are elevated levels of thyroid hormones due to increased activity of the thyroid gland. Hyperthyroidism may be primary, indicated by elevated thyroid hormones only, or it can be a secondary issue to the pituitary gland in which there is elevated TSH and thyroid hormone levels.1 In addition, hyperthyroidism may more specifically be classified as Grave’s disease if antibodies against the TSH receptor are involved.1
Thyroid hormones affect many different body systems, signs and symptoms associated with Graves’ disease can wide ranging and can influence your over-all wellbeing. Graves’ disease may affect anyone, it 's more common among women and before the age of 40. Primary treatment goals are to inhibit the overproduction of thyroid hormones and lesson the severity of the symptoms. There are numerous signs that allude to the presence of Graves’ disease, most notably is a large protruding bulb associated with the thyroid gland (goiter), changes in the menstrual cycle, bulging eyes (Graves’ ophthalmopathy), and less common is Graves’ demopathy, or thick, red skin usually found on the shins or tops of the feet.