What Is Subacute Thyroiditis? Its Causes, Symptoms And Diagnosis

What Is Subacute Thyroiditis? Its Causes, Symptoms And Diagnosis . Often thyroid diseases are silent disorders even though the gland is enlarged. However there is an exception to this, subacute thyroiditis is a painful condition. Subacute thyroiditis is inflammation of thyroid gland that usually results after a bout of upper respiratory tract infection such as cold and flu. The cause still remains unclear, but medical fraternity relates the condition to be of viral origin.

The condition is rare as compared to other thyroid disorders. Most patients complain of pain and tenderness in neck. Subacute thyroiditis is a self limited disorder and after a short clinical course, thyroid function returns back to normal.

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In few cases treatment may be necessary. Recurrence is very rare.

What Causes Subacute Thyroiditis?

The exact cause of subacute thyroiditis still remains obscure. However, upper respiratory tract virus infection is suspected to the root cause for development of subacute thyroiditis. Patient presenting with this condition often gives recent history of cold, influenza, mumps and other upper respiratory tract infections.

Middle aged women are more susceptible to this disease as compared to men. It affects predominantly women between 30 and 40 years. According to an estimate, women are ten times more vulnerable to this condition than men.

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The exact reason why women are affected more still remains unclear.

Besides, few other conditions are known to be associated with subacute thyroiditis. They are;

• Radiotherapy treatment given for Graves’ disease can cause temporary inflammation of thyroid gland.
• It can also occur as a consequence of external radiation given to neck region.
• Patient suffering from renal cell carcinoma is also susceptible to develop subacute thyroidits.

Subacute Thyroiditis Symptoms

The patient appears very sick.

• The most prominent symptom of subacute thyroiditis is pain in neck region. Pain may radiate to other sites, such as the jaw or in the ears. The gland is enlarged in size. It is tender to touch. This pain and swelling can last for weeks and months.
• Systemic symptoms include fever, lassitude, and pain in the throat while swallowing food and water.
• The voice becomes hoarse if enlarged thyroid gland compresses the voice box situated in neck.
• These symptoms are followed by symptoms of hyperthyroidism. The patient may complain of uncontrolled diarrhea, palpitation, tremor of fingers, intolerance to heat, excessive sweating and weight loss.
• After this, the clinical phase shifts towards hypothyroidism. Symptoms which dominate during this period include constipation, fatigue, weight gain, intolerance to cold, swelling of eyelids, etc.
• After a transient state of hyperthyroidism followed by hypothyroidism the condition returns back to normal.

Diagnosis And Treatment Of Subacute Thyroiditis

From obvious symptoms such as pain in throat, swelling and fever, subacute thyroiditis can be easily detected. Certain blood tests further confirm the diagnosis. Blood ESR is very high. Due to inflammation of thyroid gland, the CRP level is very high. It is a clinching diagnostic aid for diagnosing subacute thyroiditis.

Radioactive iodine test does not show presence of iodine in thyroid gland. This helps in differential diagnosis of other thyroid disorders. The diagnosis is confirmed from histopathology report of thyroid gland. For this Fine needle biopsy from thyroid gland is done by the experienced doctor.

Even though subacute thyroditis is a self limiting condition, the purpose of treatment is to alleviate pain and swelling of thyroid gland. It is also aimed at treating the symptoms of hyperthyroidism. To reduce pain, anti-inflammatory medications are used. In severe cases, temporary use of steroids may be necessary to control inflammation.

There is spontaneous recovery from the disease in most cases. It neither gets prolonged nor becomes chronic. The symptoms may last for few weeks to months. In rare cases recurrences occur.

Symptoms Of Hirsutism: What Are Its Causes And Treatment Options?

Symptoms Of Hirsutism: What Are Its Causes And Treatment Options? . Hirsutism is a condition in women where there is excessive hair growth on face and other parts of the body. In a normal woman it is not so. The hair in these areas is fine, thin and less visible. In other words in hirsutism, there is male pattern hair growth on face and in certain areas of body. Often you may see woman suffering from hirsutism having dark and coarse hair on cheeks, upper lips, chest, back and inner thighs. At least 5 to 10 percent of women in their childbearing age are known to get affected with hirsutism.

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There are several reasons noted, but genetic predisposition and increase in secretion of male hormone called testosterone is mainly responsible for it. For a woman, having dark and coarse hair growth on face may be embarrassing and annoying. She may feel depressed all the time. Having said that, she should not worry as there is effective treatment for it.

What Are The Causes Of Hirsutism?

The main reason is excessive production of male hormone androgen in women, especially the testosterone. To a certain extent, androgen is also secreted in normal women. But when this level of androgen reaches higher than normal, it manifests symptoms of hirsutism.

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Let us know in which condition there is excess growth of androgen in women:

• Polycystic ovarian disease: it is a condition in women where there is excess production of androgen hormone. Women suffering from PCOD also have other symptoms such as excess gain of weight, absence of menses or irregular menses, and associated infertility problems.
• Cushing’s syndrome is another condition responsible for hirsutism. In this disease there is excess production of cortisol, a type of steroid hormone. An abnormality in adrenal gland may result in excess secretion of the hormone.
• Menopause: changes in hormone level during menopause may also cause coarse hair growth on upper lip, cheek and chin.
• A tumor in ovary or in adrenal gland.
• Intake of certain medicine is also known to cause facial hair growth in women. This may include, anabolic steroids, glucocorticoids, Danazol, phenytoin etc.
• Family history of PCOS and certain ethnic women are at a greater risk of suffering from hirsutism.

Signs And Symptoms Of Hirsutism

• Increased hair growth on face, upper lip, chin, cheek, chest, back, around the nipples etc.
• Menstrual irregularity or even complete absence of menses.
• Deepening of voice and male pattern voice.
• Recession of hair on forehead. Also early male pattern baldness.
• Acne.
• Increase in the size of clitoris.
• Depression.
• High blood pressure.
• Small breast size. Hair around the nipple and between the breasts.
• Increased muscle mass.

Treatment For Hirsutism

In hirsutism, various hair removal techniques can be successfully used. These techniques generally address the cosmetic side of the problem without treating the underlying reason. If specific cause is diagnosed, then physicians suggest appropriate treatment, but in its absence other hair removal techniques are effective.

• These techniques include waxing, shaving, bleaching, plucking, laser and electrolysis. Laser hair removal is effective as it destroys the ability of hair growth from its root.
• Birth control pills can effectively balance the hormones and counter the effect of androgen hormones which are high in women suffering from hirsutism.
• Natural remedies such as turmeric are found to be effective in making the coarse hair less visible. Mix pinch of turmeric powder in milk and apply it on face. Let it remain for 30 minutes and wash your face after that.

What Causes Cushing’s Disease? What Are Its Symptoms And Treatment

What Causes Cushing’s Disease? What Are Its Symptoms And Treatment . Cushing’s disease occurs when there is constantly raised level of a hormone called Cortisol in the body. The predominant cause of this disease is intake of oral corticosteroid for a long duration. Another reason is when there is increase secretion of cortisol hormone in the body.

A moon shaped round face, buffalo hump (accumulation of fat at the lower part of the back of the neck), and elevation of blood glucose level giving rise to diabetes, and stretch marks on skin are some of the most striking features of Cushing ’s disease.

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Osteoporosis produced in Cushing’s syndrome can be a reason for backache and bone pains.

Treatment aimed at bringing back the body’s cortisol level will reduce most of symptoms. Criteria should be to start the treatment no sooner the symptoms of Cushing’s disease are detected.

What Are The Causes Of Cushing’s Disease?

The reason behind Cushing’s disease is excess level of cortisol circulating in the body for a long time. Cortisol is an important hormone required for maintaining various activities in the body. Your blood pressure, heart beats, and various other metabolic activities depend on the level of cortisol hormone.

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It is the endocrine system in the body responsible for production of hormones. It consists of various glands such as pituitary gland, thyroid gland, adrenal gland, pancreas and ovaries in females and testes in males. Cortisol is produced by adrenal glands situated above the kidneys.

Patient, who has too high level of cortisol in the body, can develop Cushing’s disease. There are two factors responsible for too much of cortisol; overproduction from within and excess of cortisol due to long time intake of steroids.

Many times patient has to take corticosteroids for a long duration as a treatment for certain diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, asthma and other chronic lung diseases. The dose required to treat this condition is normally higher than the body needs. This causes increased circulating level of cortisol in the body. These patients develop symptoms of Cushing’s disease.

In certain cases, overproduction of cortisol occurs in the body due to a pituitary gland tumor, or tumor in other glands such as pancreas, thyroid etc.

Cushing’s syndrome associated with adrenal gland tumor is four times more common in women than in men.

Cushings Disease Symptoms

Following are the signs and symptoms of Cushing’s disease:

• Moon face is a prominent symptom of Cushing’s disease.
• Increase in weight, deposition of fat in various parts of the body. For example between the shoulder producing a buffalo hump.
• Stretch marks seen on abdomen, thigh, arms, and under the breast.
• Skin becomes thin and delicate. It bruises easily even with minor injury.
• Due to raised level of glucose in the blood there is low healing of wounds and insect bites.
• Irregular menses.
• Backache due to osteoporosis. In serious cases it can result in shortening and collapse of vertebral column.
• There is decreased libido, patient may complain of erectile dysfunction.
• Muscular weakness.
• Temporal recession of scalp hair in females.
• Patient is depressed and anxious.
• Easy fatigue.
• When pituitary gland is involved, there is development of bilateral temporal visual defects.

 Treatment For Cushings Disease

Treatment for Cushing’s syndrome is aimed to reduce cortisol level in the body. The primary cause is found after taking history, examination and certain tests.

• If the cause of Cushing’s disease is due to the use of corticosteroids for a long time, then the treating physician may reduce its dose. However, patient should never reduce the dose on their own.
• If the cause is due to a tumor in adrenal gland or pituitary gland, patient may have to undergo surgery to remove it.
• Radiation therapy for treating tumors is also possible in some cases.
• Physicians also prescribe medicines when surgery or radiation is contraindicated or not possible in certain patients.

Certain home remedies and lifestyle changes also make lot of difference in patients suffering from Cushing’s disease.

• Reduce heavy physical activities.
• Drink milk and other calcium containing products as the bones become weak due to osteoporosis. Also vitamin D from exposure to sunlight is valuable for the bones.
• Many patients feel depressed. Such patients should seek immediate counseling. Yoga and meditation are beneficial.
• For pains and aches, oil massage, hot fomentation, acupressure is beneficial.

Hypothalamic Dysfunction Causes: Its Symptoms And How To Treat It?

Hypothalamic Dysfunction Causes: Its Symptoms And How To Treat It? . The hypothalamus is a small but dynamic neuroendocrine structure situated in brain, dynamic because it controls vital body functions. It plays a predominant role in production of pituitary hormone. It is also involved in production of various other hormones such as thyrotrophin releasing hormone (TRH), corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) etc.

Apart from endocrine functions, hypothalamus performs several other non endocrinal functions. It regulates our body temperature; it also regulates our sleep-wake cycle, thirst, hunger and sexual behavior. Considering its important role, imagine how it would be when hypothalamus begins to function abnormally.

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Let us know what hypothalamic dysfunction causes are.

What Causes Dysfunction Of The Hypothalamus?

Several reasons can cause hypothalamic dysfunction.

• Malnutrition: Deficiency of healthy nutritional intake can put a patient at a risk of suffering from hypothalamic dysfunction. Poverty is one of the common causes for malnutrition.
• Injury: An accidental injury to the head, a penetrating projectile can lead to hemorrhage. It can lead to hypothalamus dysfunction.
• Eating disorders: Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa both are eating disorders. In anorexia nervosa the person eats less quantity of food, in order to stay slim. In bulimia, the patient has tendency to eat excessive amount of food, but at the same time she wants to lose weight.
  
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  Consequently she adopts several measures such as self induced vomiting, laxatives, etc. The ups and downs in food eating habit may cause hypothalamus dysfunction.
• Tumors: Slow growing tumors of hypothalamus and pituitary gland can cause compression of hypothalamus. It can compress the vessels supplied to hypothalamus. It may cause visual disturbance, short stature, delayed puberty etc.
• Presence of excessive iron in the body.

Hypothalamic Dysfunction Symptoms

Since hypothalamus controls many glands and it also produces its own hormones called vasopressin and oxytocin, any functional changes in hypothalamus can have a great impact on a person’s health. Vast range of symptoms can be noted.

• Excruciating headache due to tumor. It can also lead to visual defects; especially the side vision is compromised.
• Hypothalamus controls the pituitary gland. And pituitary gland controls another gland called thyroid gland. When the hypothalamus function is hampered, it has an impact on pituitary gland and consequently the thyroid gland is affected. It produces less thyroid hormone. The condition is called hypothyroidism. Symptoms of hypothyroidism include, weight gain, constipation, extreme tiredness, loss of hair, dry skin, pains and aches all over body, decreased sexual arousal, delayed menses.
• Regulation of temperature goes awry. Sweating, shivering and panting can be seen in patient.
• Hypothalamus dysfunction has an associated role in producing condition called diabetes insipidus.
• Poor social adjustments, precocious puberty, increased thirst, are few symptoms of hypothalamus dysfunction.
• There can also be low blood pressure.
• Retardation in growth is also observed.
• Milk secretion from breast even if the women is not pregnant.
• Infertility in women and sterility in men. Due to lack of LH and FSH hormone.

How To Treat Hypothalamic Dysfunction?

When the doctor suspects hypothalamus dysfunction, he promptly advises the patient to do blood hormone tests. He also suggests doing MRI of brain to rule out benign or malignant growth in hypothalamus or in its surrounding structures.

Treatment mainly depends to correct the underlying cause which has resulted in hypothalamus dysfunction. In case of tumor, surgical removal may have obvious benefits. Sometimes, surgery is not possible as there is infiltration to other nearby organs in the brain. In such cases, radiation therapy helps to destroy the mass as much as possible.

Since one of the causes is malnutrition, patient should eat a balanced diet.

Hormone replacement therapy may be valuable when there is hormonal deficiency.

What Are the Adrenal Cortex Hormones: Function and Excess Hyposecretion

What Are the Adrenal Cortex Hormones: Function and Excess Hyposecretion .

Clogged Ear Remedy | Clear Clogged Ear | Blocked Ear Remedies

Clogged Ear Remedy | Clear Clogged Ear | Blocked Ear Remedies .

Get Rid of Clogged Ears

Have you ever had that symptom when you always hear muffled sounds and you feel like you are always underwater? It is like you hear sloshing sounds in the ear and that you want to poke it to unblock whatever is lodged deep down there. When something is blocking your ears, you want to immediately unclog it. You may mistake it for earwax, but then it’s not. Here are the general symptoms of clogged ear:

• There is pressure in the ear.
• A feeling that something is stuck in the ear and it is blocking your hearing.
  
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• Popping or crackling sounds when the jaw is moved, the head is tilted, or when lying down.
• A feeling of having fluids sloshing inside the ear.
• There is pain around the ear area that may go down into the neck.

Causes of Clogged Ears

There are several causes of having a clogged ear. Here are some of them:

• Diving
• Sore throat or throat infection
• Tonsillitis
• Common colds
• Viral infection
• Sinus infection
• Bacterial infection
• Ear infection or otitis media
• Air pressure changes
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Boil in outer ear canal
• Ruptured, perforated eardrum
• Rapid descent from high altitudes
• Severely impacted ear wax blockage
• Swimmer’s ear where water is trapped in the ear canal

How ears get clogged can be blamed on a few possible things:

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Clogged ears can be caused by an excessive build-up of earwax.

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Your ears can get clogged due to sinus problems and by blowing your nose too much.

A clogged ear can mean fluid is trapped in your ear.

Your ear sometimes gets clogged due to a sudden change in pressure like when you are in an ascending or descending in an airplane.

How to Unclog Ears

Having clogged ears can be irritating. It is like your ears are stuck inside a cave and everything else is blocked from getting in and out. You would not want having clogged ears all the time, and you would wish to get rid of it as soon as possible.

• For clogged ears caused by airplane descents or sudden air pressure change, chewing a gum may help in balancing the pressure inside the ears.
• A heating pad or a blow dryer may help to allow the ears to dry up the water in the ear canals.
• Putting a moist heating pad in the area of the outer ear helps in unblocking ears.
• Swallow repetitively.
• Yawn frequently as it helps remove the pressure that is blocked in the ears.
• Allow hot steam to surround you for five to ten minutes. The steam is believed to relieve clogged ears.
• Put a drop or two of earwax softeners into the ear canal.
• Try to chew a gum to release pressure from a clogged ear. This is useful when you are flying. Try to bring a pack of chewing gum with you when you know that you have to get on an airplane.
• Yawning actually helps to clear a clogged ear. Try forcing yourself to yawn to clear your ears of some of the pressure that causes it to feel clogged.
• One of the most used remedies for a clogged ear that is caused by earwax problems is hydrogen peroxide dropped into the clogged ear using a dropper. Usually, the best time for you to do this is after you take a hot shower. The steam from the bathroom loosens up the wax, making it easier to remove with the help of hydrogen peroxide.
• When you have a cold or sinus problem, try not to blow your nose too hard. This can help prevent clogged ears that are caused by excessive or hard nose blowing.
• Clean your ears regularly to avoid the build-up of wax in your ears that may cause clogged ears if left alone to accumulate.
• When swimming, try to use swimming earplugs. These are used to help keep water out of your ears and to help a person avoid clogged ears due to fluid in the ears from swimming.

Cleaning Ear Wax Buildup: Natural Ways To Remove Ear Wax Safely

Cleaning Ear Wax Buildup: Natural Ways To Remove Ear Wax Safely . Earwax is one of the naturally occurring substances found in a man’s ears. These waxy substances are usually yellowish in color. They are secreted by the ear for protection against bacteria, dust, water, and other elements entering the ears. Moreover, they also assist in the cleaning and lubrication of the ear canal.

The accumulation of earwax is often a cause for concern for most. This is because when they accumulate in great quantity, they may affect hearing. In some cases, their presence may cause pain in the ears. Moreover, when earwax thickens, they may exert pressure against the eardrum and cause infection.

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How To Clean Ear Wax Out Of Your Ears?

Unfortunately, when it comes to cleaning earwax, a lot of people still follow the old ways of cleaning, which may do more harm than good. On the contrary, most doctors suggest not cleaning the earwax as this will harden and fall off naturally.

However, when they are annoying (their presence is commonly treated as a sign of poor hygiene), people start looking for ways to get rid of it. The most common employed means is to insert an ear bud (piece of cotton wrapped at one end of a small stick).

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This process is deemed harmful because it only pushes the wax deeper into the ear canal. Apart from this, some people are also fond of inserting anything into their ears in an effort to get rid of wax. This process may cause ear infection especially when dirty matter is used.

Natural Ways To Get Rid Of Ear Wax Safely At Home

• First, we’ll dispense with the ear’s natural procedure to get rid of hardened earwax. The process of expelling earwax is aided principally by jaw movement. The jaw movement helps to push the hardened earwax toward the entrance of the ear canal. The expelled matter will take with it dust, dirt, and any other foreign matter.
• When one is going to use cotton, soak the cotton first in heated oils such as olive oil, mineral oil, or baby oil. The heated oil will help to melt the ear wax, which will then be absorbed by the cotton.
• The application of ear drops. Ear drops are specially formulated to soften and melt the wax. When this happens, they will then drop out from the ear. When applying it, put in a few drops and hold in the ear for a few minutes.