Thyroid Hormone Profile
Thyroid disease is becoming increasingly common, especially among women, and it now affects up to 10% of the female population. The thyroid gland is situated in the neck surrounding the trachea (windpipe)and produces two hormones (T3 and T4) which influence metabolic processes in the body and are essential for normal growth, mental development and sexual maturation, and a third which helps regulate calcium metabolism. Imbalances in thyroid hormones are responsible for both hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) and hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid).
Your practitioner may recommend a thyroid profile where you display a group of symptoms that are suggestive of either hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. Healthy thyroid function is of particular concern to pregnant women, or those wishing to become pregnant, and to peri-menopausal women.
Hypothyroidism often develops slowly with a generalised slowing of the metabolism and is characterised by weight gain, mental dullness, cold intolerance, dry skin and hair loss (especially from the outer one third of the eye brow).
Hypothyroidism can be caused by an autoimmune condition of the thyroid called Hashimoto’s, or nutritional deficiencies and other causes.
Hyperthyroidism may be characterised by tremors, abnormal heart beats, weight loss, tiredness, sweating or heat intolerance and diarrhoea.
Hyperthyroidism can be caused by an autoimmune condition of the thyroid called Graves Disease or nutritional deficiencies, stress and other causes.
Thorough hormone testing is essential to determine if a patient’s symptoms are possibly caused by a thyroid problem. There are two ways that thyroid hormones can be tested for at Remède, depending on the patient’s specific needs and requests. Thyroid hormone testing may be done through a blood test or blood spot testing.
Blood samples for TSH, fT3, rT3, fT4, and thyroid antibodies are taken at a blood collection centre such as CliniPath or Western Diagnostics, to which you will be referred.