Thyroid problems affect around 30 million people in the United States, says the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. If you suffer from a thyroid condition, this Cheat Sheet is here to help you to recognize and manage your symptoms, and avoid the triggers that can cause a flare-up of thyroid problems.

You can take action to improve your thyroid health. If you're concerned that you have — or may have — a problem with your thyroid, you should bear in mind the following advice: If thyroid disease runs in your family, ask your doctor about screening for thyroid diseases at appropriate intervals. If you have a thyroid problem, check your thyroid function during times of major body changes, such as pregnancy.

More than one-quarter of the world's population suffers from some level of iodine deficiency disease. That works out to 1.6 billion people. Of these, 655 million have a goiter, an enlargement of the thyroid that can sometimes be debilitating. Twenty-six million of them have brain damage, and 6 million of those 26 million suffer from cretinism; they are so handicapped by their thyroid conditions that they are completely dependent upon those around them to live.

The two most common causes of hypothyroidism are iodine deficiency and chronic thyroiditis. Iodine deficiency is rare in the United States and Europe but very common throughout the rest of the world. Chronic thyroiditis is an inherited condition that is diagnosed by checking the levels of thyroid autoantibodies in the blood.

Thanks to the Internet, you have access to incredible amounts of information about your thyroid. Unfortunately, much (perhaps most) of it is not accurate. Much of what you read online is based on the experiences and opinions of one or a few people who took this or that medicine or herb and got better in two weeks.

Severe hyperthyroid eye disease, though rare, can lead to blindness. Just exactly why hyperthyroid eye disease occurs isn't clear, but researchers generally believe that it has a basis as an autoimmune disorder. One suggestion is that thyroglobulin enters the muscles of the eyes, and antibodies react against it.

Hyperthyroidism, whether caused by Graves' disease or another condition, produces consistent signs and symptoms that affect every part of your body. The major abnormalities are described in the following sections, grouped according to the organ system of the body that is affected. The body generally Hyperthyroidism can cause your body temperature to be persistently high.

Certain drugs can interact with your thyroid hormone to negatively affect your thyroid function. These are just a few commonly used medications that can affect your thyroid: Amiodarone Aspirin (more than 3,000 milligrams daily) Estrogen (for example, in hormone replacement therapy, or in the oral contra

Someone with hypothyroidism — an underactive thyroid gland — often experiences some of the following signs and symptoms. Keep in mind that these symptoms alone can't diagnose thyroid disease, and thyroid disease is sometimes present even if you don't experience all the symptoms: Slow pulse Enlarged thyroid