ABSTRACT:
An estimate of about 108 million people in India suffers from endocrine and metabolic disorders. Several of these diseases are caused by environmental factors; therefore, their prevalence is several-fold higher. Thyroid disorders are the most common among all the endocrine diseases in India and hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism are more frequent in women. Functional studies of the goitrous subjects showed overall prevalence of 5.4% hypothyroidism, 1.9% hyperthyroidism. 7.5% prevalence of autoimmune thyroiditis was demonstrable by fine needle aspiration biopsy. Hypothyroidism refers to any state that results in a deficiency of thyroid hormone, including hypothalamic or pituitary disease and generalized tissue resistance to thyroid hormone, and disorders that affect the thyroid gland directly. Clinically hyperthyroidism, also called as thyrotoxicosis, is caused by the effects of excess thyroid hormone. Goiters can be any one of several types of growths in the thyroid gland, located at the base of the front side of the neck just below the Adam’s apple. In case of Graves’ disease, the entire thyroid gland becomes enlarged. Thyroid cancer occurs in the cells of the gland. The thyroid gland produces hormone that regulate heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and weight. Thyroid cancers are three times more common in women than in men. There are of four types – papillary, follicular, medullary and anaplastic. The cause of thyroid cancer is unknown, but certain risk factors have been identified and they include a family history of goiter, exposure to high levels of radiation, and certain hereditary syndromes.