Depressed, Fat and Fatigued? How Your Body May Be Signaling You

Weight gain you cannot explain, depression, and fatigue are signs you may have a health issue. Other signs may include sensitivity to gluten, dry skin and hair, constipation, hair loss, muscle weakness, and sensitivity to cold.

As different as these signs appear, they may be pointing in the same direction – to an underactive thyroid gland. An underactive thyroid, also known as hypothyroidism, fails to produce sufficient thyroid hormones to meet your body’s needs.

Here’s why thyroid hormones are important to your health:

• Your thyroid gland, located in your throat beneath your Adam’s apple, produces hormones that regulate your growth, maturation and speed of metabolism. That’s the reason an underactive thyroid may produce symptoms such as fatigue and weight gain.

• Risk factors for developing thyroid disease include sensitivity to gluten, which may lead to autoimmune hypothyroidism; a family history of thyroid disorders; pregnancy; menopause, and aging.

• People diagnosed with celiac disease, a severe form of sensitivity to gluten, are three times more likely than the general population to have a thyroid disorder.

• In families with history of thyroid disease, children and adolescents, as well as adults, are at risk of developing a thyroid disorder.

• If you are experiencing one or more symptoms, ask your doctor for a thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) test. It’s a simple blood test that is the most accurate way to diagnose a thyroid disorder.

• The American Thyroid Association recommends that all men and women be screened for thyroid disorders starting at age 35 and every five years thereafter.

• Hypothyroidism usually is treated with synthetic thyroid hormone, known as levothyroxine.

• Left untreated, thyroid disorders my lead to complications such as an enlarged thyroid (goiter) that may affect swallowing; clinical depression; elevated cholesterol levels and heart disease; infertility, and birth defects.

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