Where is the thyroid gland? What does it look like?
Thyroid gland is located directly in front of the neck of the human body. It is shaped like a big butterfly lying on the trachea and also like a shield armour protecting the trachea. Therefore, it is called thyroid gland. It is not easy to see or touch under normal conditions. If you can see or touch it, you should pay attention to it.
What is the use of thyroid gland?
Thyroid gland is an endocrine organ that secretes a series of hormones, which are called thyroxine.
Thyroxine has the functions of promoting cell metabolism, increasing oxygen consumption, stimulating tissue growth, maturation and differentiation, and plays an important role in controlling the speed of human energy use, producing proteins and regulating the sensitivity of the body to other hormones.
Therefore, when thyroxine secretion is much more, it will become [hyperthyroidism]. The body has intense metabolic manifestations, such as temperament will become impatient, easy to get excited, insomnia, hands trembling, fear of heat, hyperhidrosis, moist skin, eating more but emaciation, weight loss, palpitation, rapid and powerful pulse. Female patients will also have menstrual disorders.
On the contrary, if thyroid hypofunction is called [hypothyroidism], it will have the following physiological characteristics: weight gain, facial swelling, indifferent expression, hysteresis of eyes, and personal feeling afraid of cold, tiredness and lethargy.
How do you know whether thyroid gland has nodules?
At present, common thyroid nodules include proliferative nodules, thyroid cysts, tumor nodules, cystic nodules and inflammatory nodules. Most people are palpated by doctors when nodules are large through physical examination. Some relatively perfect physical examination also includes neck B ultrasound, which can also detect whether there are nodules.
[B-ultrasound said there was thyroid nodule, but I didn’t feel it at all.]
Many thyroid nodules are asymptomatic. If there are symptoms, there may be two conditions:
One is that due to its poor position or large volume, it compresses the trachea, throat, etc., resulting in hoarseness, dysphonia, swallowing or dyspnea.
The other is that it affects thyroxine secretion, leading to hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism.
What’s next?
After many patients learned that their thyroid gland had nodules, It’s very stressful, Thought he had cancer, He immediately went to the thyroid department to ask the doctor to operate on it. But the fact is, according to the results of some clinical investigation reports, 95% of the thyroid nodules found are benign lesions. Some patients’ nodules can fade by themselves, while others have inflammatory nodules, which can also shrink as long as they improve their living habits according to the doctor’s advice and take drugs at the same time.
1. Review
In order to avoid confusion with other thyroid-related diseases, it is necessary to contact endocrinologists, and ask experienced doctors to have a B-ultrasound reexamination and thyroid function examination.
Combined with the examination results, it can be determined that the endocrinologist will follow up or need triage to general surgery.
2. Look at the results of B-ultrasound
Look at the size: if the diameter is less than 1cm, there is no sign of suspected malignant transformation.
Please pay attention to such reports: [microcalcification, sand-like, solid hypoecho, irregular boundary, infiltration to the surroundings, ipsilateral lymph node abnormalities]. Please contact the endocrinologist as soon as possible for such reports.
Please relax such reports: [pure cystic, hyperechoic, gross calcification, rich blood flow around nodules, spongy changes]. Such reports show that the vast majority are benign and can be observed regularly by annual physical examination.
3. History of medical treatment
Most patients who develop malignant diseases have the following characteristics:
Occurred in childhood;
Some of their immediate family members suffer from thyroid cancer.
Young male single nodule;
Head and neck have received radiotherapy.
Rapid increase in a short period of time;
It feels irregular in shape, hard in quality, small in mobility during swallowing, and enlargement of ipsilateral lymph nodes.
Accompanied by hoarseness, dyspnea, swallowing or dyspnea and other symptoms;
Ultrasound report indicates that abnormality requires further treatment.
How to determine whether nodules are benign or malignant?
Typical thyroid cancer can be diagnosed by professional thyroid ultrasound examination. In case of complicated condition, thyroid fine needle minimally invasive surgery can be selected, and cytological biopsy can be aspirated to determine the nature of the tumor.
Whether the operation should be determined by the endocrinologist. It is not recommended that patients blindly judge the operation, because this part is rich in blood vessels and the nearby organs are more complicated. If the operation is performed, there is a risk of accidental injury to blood vessels and nerves, and there is also the possibility of hypothyroidism caused by excessive thyroid removal.
11,000, it is really unfortunate to be diagnosed with thyroid cancer. It is also a relatively [mild] cancer. If regular treatment can be carried out in time, the survival period of prognosis is longer than that of other cancers.
Responsible Editor: Cat Capricorn
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