Hashimoto’s Help In Greenville SC
Have you been told that you have Hashimoto’s disease? Do you know what it is, and how it affects your body? Do you know the other names that Hashimoto’s disease goes by? Perhaps you have heard it referred to by one of those names and didn’t recognize it. Finally, do you know who is most commonly affected by Hashimoto’s disease? These are all good questions. Let’s take a look and learn more.
Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune disorder, which is where the body attacks healthy organs and tissues inside itself. Usually when germs come into contact with the body, the immune system rises up and mounts a defense against the germ, fighting it off. For people with an autoimmune disease, the immune system becomes confused and mistakes healthy tissue for invading germs, and attacks. For people with Hashimoto’s disease, the attacks take place in the thyroid. The constant barrage from the immune system makes the thyroid weak, and so it is less able to function efficiently like the body requires.
When a person’s thyroid functions slower, or less effectively, than the body needs it to function then the person is said to be hypothyroid. Hashimoto’s disease is the number one cause for a person to be hypothyroid. Hashimoto’s disease is also referred to as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, or chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis. Instead of referring to themselves as being hypothyroid, many people simply say that they have low thyroid.
How does Hashimoto’s disease affect the human body? Since it is the number one cause of low thyroid, it has many of the same symptoms of low thyroid. The thyroid produces hormones which control and regulate many functions within the body, so if the thyroid is producing fewer hormones than the body requires, the body’s functions will be affected. For instance, the thyroid regulates the body’s temperature, and keeps it at a typical 98.6 degrees. If a person has a low thyroid, they may also suffer from a low body temperature and also intolerance of cold temperatures. The thyroid also controls the body’s metabolism. This means that when a person eats food, their body converts it to fuel to be used as energy, or into fat so that it can be stored for later use. If a person has Hashimoto’s disease, their body will have a slower metabolism. They will burn fuel much slower than people with healthy thyroids, and they will convert more food into fat and store it for later, too. Hashimoto’s disease can have an effect on nearly the entire body.
You may wonder who is most likely to be affected by Hashimoto’s disease. It most often strikes middle aged women, but it can affect males and females of any age. Even children can have Hashimoto’s disease, although it is less common.
If you have questions, it is important to write them down so you don’t forget. No question is a “dumb” question, and an excellent functional wellness practitioner will be more than happy to answer any questions you have, as well as to explain how your body functions, so it is less of a mystery to you.
