January is Thyroid Awareness Month

Thyroid Awareness Month, in January,  is a global campaign dedicated to educating the public about the often-overlooked butterfly-shaped gland, which regulates metabolism, heart rate, and temperature. With 20 million Americans affected by thyroid disease, many undiagnosed, the 2026 initiative emphasizes early detection, symptom awareness, and screenings to combat rising thyroid disorder rates.

Susan visited her doctor because she felt tired all the time and was feeling down. She had trouble thinking clearly, felt cold often, and noticed she was gaining weight.

Joan went to her doctor because she was losing weight even though she was always hungry. She was feeling more anxious and irritable, her heart was beating faster than usual, and she was having trouble sleeping.

Their doctor did a physical exam, which included feeling the thyroid to check for swelling or lumps, blood tests to look at thyroid function, and sometimes a thyroid scan to see if the gland was bigger or had any growths. Susan was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, while Joan was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism.

Around 20 million Americans (mostly women) have some type of thyroid disease. The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped organ about 2 inches wide located in the front of the neck.  Its main function is to regulate the rate of metabolism and the way the body converts food into energy. The thyroid affects many body functions, including energy and metabolism, heart rate, breathing, digestion, body temperature, mental activity, skin and bone maintenance, and fertility.  It also affects brain development in infants.

Here’s how thyroid hormones work: The hypothalamus in the brain releases a hormone that tells the pituitary gland to send out thyroid-stimulating hormone. This makes the thyroid release T4 and some T3. T4 and T3 are important for controlling how the body works. T4 is not active at first. Organs such as the liver and kidneys convert T4 to T3. The thyroid also makes calcitonin, which helps control the body’s calcium levels. The thyroid needs iodine to work well. We get iodine from foods like eggs, dairy, iodized salt, cod, haddock, sea bass, salmon, shrimp, and oysters. Sea salt is not a good source of iodine. Most adults need about 150 mcg per day.

The key to the treatment of thyroid problems, whether low or high, is to regulate the thyroid hormone to a normal level. Medication is used to accomplish this.  Sometimes, in hyperthyroidism, medicine may not help, and surgery or radioactive iodine treatment may be needed.

Being Aware of Thyroid function is important to your health.

Talk with your healthcare provider about screening. Screening is generally for those with symptoms (fatigue, weight changes, anxiety, tremors) or risk factors, not for the general asymptomatic population

Palo Pinto General Hospital will have internal medicine specialist and endocrinologist Hector Castro joining our team in the spring.

Share your THYROID experiences in the comment section below