Stress is Affecting Your Thyroid

Stress is Affecting Your Thyroid

In today’s society, in a fast paced world where it is crucial to get information quickly, stress is part of everyday living. People are more busy and have less time, we’re always in a rush and it is making most of us stressed out.  Whether running late for a business meeting, trying to complete a project within time constraints or organizing for a big interstate relocation, our stress levels can sometimes be too much to handle and that is not good news for your thyroid.

Being overly stressed can affect the thyroid gland and can cause hypothyroidism, reducing the ability to produce adequate hormone levels known as thyroxine. When this occurs, the thyroid is not able to efficiently control the body’s metabolism and can cause a range of health issues.  During events of stress, the body produces the hormone cortisol, excessive amounts of cortisol can interrupt the production of thyroxine and can also affect hormone conversion to triiodothyronine.

Stress can be linked to symptoms of hypothyroidism, leading to weight gain, fatigue, decrease in memory and depression. Weight gain is often the most noticeable symptoms of hypothyroidism as it is related to slower than normal metabolism. As the role of the thyroid is to control the body’s metabolism and convert calories into energy, once metabolism slows, the body reduces energy consumption and extra calories are instead stored as fat. Weight loss may become more difficult and you may experience weight gain during dieting and exercise.

Tips to Reducing Stress

Healthy Eating

Aiming for nutritional meals and a well-balanced diet can improve energy levels and maintain overall health. As a rule of thumb, eat three meals filled with nutritional goodness including fruits, vegetables and protein daily. Begin the day with a healthy breakfast with low sugar and packed with fiber and protein.  Kick old habits away by reducing the intake of alcohol, caffeine, salt and excessive sugar consumption. Drink water and more of it, 2 litre daily averages and find the time to eat meals during the right times of the day and allow food to digest properly.

Plan Your Tasks

Stress is normally encountered when we are not prepared for the situation, leave the house 10 minutes before hand to avoid stress in traffic or tight deadlines, do your research on interstate car transport weeks before the date of relocation and ensure you understand any car carrier costs involved to avoid the stress of hidden fees. Taking a little extra time before hand to plan out any task will reduce the amount and effects of stress.

Get Adequate Sleep

Having enough rest and decent shut eye plays a major role in anyone’s stress levels. Without enough sleep or adequate rest, our judgement can be impaired and our day to day activities can bring on more stress than necessary.  Try to give yourself a strict bedtime routine, wind down and relax during the hours leading up to bed time.

Thyroid Health Problems

Thyroid Health Problems

What exactly is thyroid? It is a gland in the lower frontal part of the throat and its main function is to control the human body’s metabolism which includes blood pressure, heart rate, weight and the temperature of the body.

Although thyroid problems can be treated efficiently when diagnosed and people can be expected to recover fairly quickly, because of its important function towards controlling the body’s metabolic processes, it can cause a variety of serious health problems when the thyroid gland is not functioning as expected.

The most common issues when it comes to the thyroid gland consist of thyroid overactive, thyroid underactive and thyroid cancer.

Thyroid overactive is known as Hyperthyroidism – occurs when the thyroid gland produces excessive thyroxine hormones causing the body unintentional weight loss, rapid or irregular heartbeat. Other symptoms of hyperthyroidism include experiences in tiredness, excessive sweating and increase in nervousness, anxiety and irritability.  Treatments for hyperthyroidism include use of prescribed anti-thyroid medications and iodine to slow the thyroid making the hormones. In worse cases, it may be necessary to have surgery to remove part or all of the thyroid gland.

Thyroid underactive is known as Hypothyroidism – occurs when the gland does not produce enough thyroxine hormones. Symptoms of an underactive thyroid may not be visible for years, when symptoms do appear they can include increased fatigue, weight gain, constipation, depression, muscle aches, swelling of joints and sensitivity to the cold. Untreated hypothyroidism can lead to severe health issues including heart problems and advanced hypothyroidism known as myxedema which can cause low blood pressure, ability in breathing and can cause coma. Treatment for hypothyroidism involves daily intake of synthetic thyroid hormone known as levothyroxine, which restores hormone levels but may take time to determine a balanced dosage.

Thyroid cancer – occurs when the cells of the thyroid gland become cancerous. The most common form known as papillary thyroid cancer grows in one lobe of the thyroid gland. Thyroid cancer is more common in women than men and is usually diagnosed for people over fifty.  It is usually treated successfully with a 5 year survival rate of ninety seven percent. Symptoms include a lump in the neck or throat that enlarges over time, difficulty in swallowing or breathing, swollen lymph glands. You should talk to your GP immediately if you have any of these symptoms.