Good Essay On Thyroid Diseases And Medication

Thyroid is a large endocrine gland found around the neck in animals. It is located below the thyroid cartilage which forms the Adam’s apple. The thyroid gland regulates the rate at which energy is used in the body, it makes proteins and controls the body’s sensitivity to the hormones. It achieves these goals by producing the thyroid hormones (T3 and T4). These hormones control the rate of growth and how other body systems function. The T3 and T4 hormones are manufactured from tyrosine and iodine. In addition thyroid produce calticonin, a hormone which is responsible for balancing of calcium in the body. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), produced in the pituitary glands, regulates the rate at which thyroid gland releases its hormones. Hypothalamus, on the other hand, regulates the release of THS from the pituitary glands.
There are a number of disease which can affect the thyroid gland. They are hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, Autoimmune Thyroid Disease, Nodules/Goitre, thyroid cancer, and thyroiditis. Hypothyroidism is a condition which the thyroid glands are underactive. This slows down the physical processes of the body, and the symptoms include depression, low blood pressure, fatigue, and slow reflexes. Hyperthyroidism, on the other hand, therefore, is the over action of the thyroid gland. This increase the metabolic rate of the body and the symptoms include high heart rate, high blood pressure, increased sensitivity, insomnia and anxiety. Goitre is a condition where the thyroid glands swell. This is visible at the areas around the neck. Other symptoms of goitre include difficulty in breathing or swallowing and hoarseness while speaking and coughing. Cancer of the thyroid glands is diagnosed by a change in voice, swelling of lymph nodes, difficulty while swallowing and breathing, and a lump around the neck. Thyroiditis is diagnosed if someone has felt pain and tenderness around the neck and finds it difficult to sleep.
Thyroid diseases can be treated using different drugs. Levothyroxine (synthetic T4) is one of the most commonly prescribed drug used to treat thyroid disease. In US, generic levothyroxine, Levothroid, Synthroid, and Levoxyl are brand tablets of the drug levothyroxine. Eltroxin, PMS-levothyroxine and Synthroid are common brand names of Levothyroxine in Canada.
Liothyronine (synthetic T3) is also used to treat thyroid diseases. Cytomel and generic liothyronine are brand names of Liothyronine. Liotrix (a synthetic combination of T4 and T3) is prescribed by psychiatrists to treat thyroid diseases. In the market, its brand is Thyrolar though this drug has been on the shortage list in US.
Desiccated Natural Thyroid is an ancient drug used to treat thyroid. It was made from dried thyroid of a pig. It is more used by old doctors who argue that the synthetic medicines used to treat thyroid do not normally work well on all patients. Some available brands of desiccated thyroid include Canadian natural thyroid, Armour thyroid, Wes-throid, and Nature-Throid.
For thyroid diseases, nurses have some interventions to observe during the diagnosis and treatment processes. With regards to the type of disease, the aim of nursing care is to maintain normal eyesight and protect the eyes, maintain regular bowel pattern, watch the respiratory and cardiac processes of the patient, check for breath sounds, and monitor and ensure a steady body weight of the patient. Such an endocrine dysfunction calls for a prolonged medical care of the affected person.