Thyroid Storm

Yasser A, Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

A person with hyperthyroidism can live with medical and pharmacological control without major problems. However, the thyroid storm is a complication that must be recognized because it can be fatal.

Thyroid storm is a rare complication of hyperthyroidism but one that you should be aware of, especially when you are treating yourself. It is a condition in which hyperthyroidism enters an exaggerated state of hyperactivity, generating a metabolic response with tachycardia, arrhythmias, fever of 102-104°F, agitation, high blood pressure, confusion, and diarrhea. This overactive state can be triggered by poor treatment of hyperthyroidism, infection with sepsis, dehydration, or psychiatric illness. Thyroid storm is an absolute emergency requiring hospitalization and monitoring in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Hypothyroidism is the condition in which the thyroid does not produce enough thyroid hormone, so it is underactive. It is the exact opposite of hyperthyroidism. You’ve already seen that the thyroid hormone controls the body’s metabolism at many levels, including regulation of body temperature and fat distribution and storage. In the case of hypothyroidism, this decreased activity causes a slowing down of these functions. Therefore, the patient has feelings of tiredness and sleepiness, depression, constipation, decreased heart rate, hypotension, and intolerance of cold. The most common cause of hypothyroidism worldwide is a lack of iodine in the diet. More than 50 years ago in Venezuela, in the area of the Andes that is very far from the coast, the inhabitants suffered from hypothyroidism.

Eventually the sanitarians realized that their diet did not have any source of iodine, so they decided on an action that had been taken in some other countries, which was to iodize cooking salt, thus solving the problem that existed in this region. Iodized salt has been used in the United States since the mid-1920s, when a large number of people with hypothyroidism were discovered in the Great Lakes and Pacific Northwest regions. Since the implementation of this policy, great benefits have been seen in the world’s population, such as increased IQ and productivity of the young workforce, which improves the global economy. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is the second leading cause of hypothyroidism worldwide. This is a chronic autoimmune disease that destroys hormone-producing thyroid cells through an exaggerated inflammatory process. It is manifested by a painless enlargement of the thyroid (goiter) with symptoms of hypothyroidism.

Dr. J.S.Bhandari, India, Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

Drahreg01, Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0