The thyroid is a gland in the low, front part of the neck which produces special "thyroid hormones" necessarily for life.
January 9, 2005 (Press Release) --
What Is the Thyroid?
The thyroid is a gland in the low, front part of the neck which produces special "thyroid hormones" necessarily for life. The thyroid gets it's "instructions" on how much hormone to produce by a chemical message sent from the mid-brain pituitary gland. The thyroid is located in the middle of the low neck, overlying the windpipe ("trachea"). It is composed of 2 "lobes", with the lobes joined together at the lower third by by a connecting "Ithmus" and covered by cartilage, The thyroid connects to this tough, thick cartilage, called the "thyroid cartilage". This cartilage provides some barrier to the local spread of a thyroid cancer. The blood supply to the thyroid is from the "inferior" (lower) and "superior" (upper) thyroid arteries. These emanate from the "thyroid axis", which is a branch of the large "subciavian artery" coming off of the aorta from the heart. The thyroid veins that drain blood from the thyroid form a network ("plexus") on the surface of the organ and empty into the "jugular veins", which return it to the heart. Infections or cancer can thus be spead via the bloodstream ("hematogenously") to distant blody areas. The smallest blood vessels are where the arteries and veins join, these are called "capillaries". The fluid portion of the blood ("serum") migrates through the walls of the capillaries to bathe-individual ceiis with oxygen and nutrients. This serum is filtered by a series of "fymph glands" ("nodes") in the neck; these tend to swell ("lymphadenopathy") when invaded by the spread of infections or cancer.
The main hormones produced by the thyroid gland are thyroxine and calcitonin. A hormone is a chemical produced at one location in the body (by a gland) that has it's effects on another part of the body (like the heart or bone). Thus, a hormone is a "chemical messenger" that may,be produced either closeby or far distant to its "target tissue" area of action. Thyroxine controls the metabolic rate of the body, that is "how fast our machine runs". It is crucial for the developing child, and without it the child will be severely retarded ("cretin") and have stunted growth. An adult without any thyroxine will gradually go into a coma from too low of a metabolism. Signs that the thyroxine level is too low ("hypothyrold") include swelling in the neck (goiter), low heart rate, fatigue, getting obese, feeling of coldness, constipation and thickened hair. Conversely, signs that the thyroxine level is to high ("hyperthyrold") include a fast heart rate and palpitations, sweating, lots of energy, being thin, feeling of being hot, and diarrhea. Ideally people should be "euthyrold", meaning neither too much nor too little hormone is being produced. You can see that the thyroid hormone level must be tightly controlled for us to feel normal, and the pituitary gland in the brain does this bysensing the rate of metabolism and putting on "thyroid stimulating hormone" (TSH) which regulates the thyroid's production of thyroxine. Fortunately, even if the thyroid completely fails and no thyroxine is produced, it can be artificially replaced by taking a daily pill (levothyroxine). Thus the patient can still lead a normal life and not go into a coma ("myxedema") from lack of this crucial hormone. Too much thyroid hormone can be controlled by chemically or radioactively destroying ("ablating") part of the thyroid to limit it's production of hormone. Thus, medical science is good at adjusting the thyroxine level if the body's regulation of it malfunctions.
The other critical hormone produced by different glands within the thyroid (called the "medullary glands") is calcitonin. This hormone regulates the calcium level in the blood. It's release causes the blood calcium to go down as it is deposited into the bones. Older individuals with severe bone thinning may benefit from calcitonin injections ("Calcimar") to which builds up the cortex (hard portion) of the bones. Blood calcium must be maintained within a narrow balance or the patient will first have abnormal reflexes, be very fatigued, and eventually go into a coma. Its intricate functions in governing proper metabolism make the thyroid a gland basic for life. It is fortunate that medical science can fairly well replace thyroid function with medications.
http://www.canceranswers.com/
The thyroid is a gland in the low, front part of the neck which produces special "thyroid hormones" necessarily for life. The thyroid gets it's "instructions" on how much hormone to produce by a chemical message sent from the mid-brain pituitary gland. The thyroid is located in the middle of the low neck, overlying the windpipe ("trachea"). It is composed of 2 "lobes", with the lobes joined together at the lower third by by a connecting "Ithmus" and covered by cartilage, The thyroid connects to this tough, thick cartilage, called the "thyroid cartilage". This cartilage provides some barrier to the local spread of a thyroid cancer. The blood supply to the thyroid is from the "inferior" (lower) and "superior" (upper) thyroid arteries. These emanate from the "thyroid axis", which is a branch of the large "subciavian artery" coming off of the aorta from the heart. The thyroid veins that drain blood from the thyroid form a network ("plexus") on the surface of the organ and empty into the "jugular veins", which return it to the heart. Infections or cancer can thus be spead via the bloodstream ("hematogenously") to distant blody areas. The smallest blood vessels are where the arteries and veins join, these are called "capillaries". The fluid portion of the blood ("serum") migrates through the walls of the capillaries to bathe-individual ceiis with oxygen and nutrients. This serum is filtered by a series of "fymph glands" ("nodes") in the neck; these tend to swell ("lymphadenopathy") when invaded by the spread of infections or cancer.
The main hormones produced by the thyroid gland are thyroxine and calcitonin. A hormone is a chemical produced at one location in the body (by a gland) that has it's effects on another part of the body (like the heart or bone). Thus, a hormone is a "chemical messenger" that may,be produced either closeby or far distant to its "target tissue" area of action. Thyroxine controls the metabolic rate of the body, that is "how fast our machine runs". It is crucial for the developing child, and without it the child will be severely retarded ("cretin") and have stunted growth. An adult without any thyroxine will gradually go into a coma from too low of a metabolism. Signs that the thyroxine level is too low ("hypothyrold") include swelling in the neck (goiter), low heart rate, fatigue, getting obese, feeling of coldness, constipation and thickened hair. Conversely, signs that the thyroxine level is to high ("hyperthyrold") include a fast heart rate and palpitations, sweating, lots of energy, being thin, feeling of being hot, and diarrhea. Ideally people should be "euthyrold", meaning neither too much nor too little hormone is being produced. You can see that the thyroid hormone level must be tightly controlled for us to feel normal, and the pituitary gland in the brain does this bysensing the rate of metabolism and putting on "thyroid stimulating hormone" (TSH) which regulates the thyroid's production of thyroxine. Fortunately, even if the thyroid completely fails and no thyroxine is produced, it can be artificially replaced by taking a daily pill (levothyroxine). Thus the patient can still lead a normal life and not go into a coma ("myxedema") from lack of this crucial hormone. Too much thyroid hormone can be controlled by chemically or radioactively destroying ("ablating") part of the thyroid to limit it's production of hormone. Thus, medical science is good at adjusting the thyroxine level if the body's regulation of it malfunctions.
The other critical hormone produced by different glands within the thyroid (called the "medullary glands") is calcitonin. This hormone regulates the calcium level in the blood. It's release causes the blood calcium to go down as it is deposited into the bones. Older individuals with severe bone thinning may benefit from calcitonin injections ("Calcimar") to which builds up the cortex (hard portion) of the bones. Blood calcium must be maintained within a narrow balance or the patient will first have abnormal reflexes, be very fatigued, and eventually go into a coma. Its intricate functions in governing proper metabolism make the thyroid a gland basic for life. It is fortunate that medical science can fairly well replace thyroid function with medications.
http://www.canceranswers.com/
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