Autoimmune thyroiditis in pregnancy

Hypothyroidism is a persistent deficiency of thyroid hormones. The term autoimmune means the inability of the human body to recognize cells "one's own", which leads to the appearance of autoantibodies to the cells of the thyroid gland. So what is fraught with autoimmune thyroiditis in pregnancy? How serious is this disease and how it can affect the course of pregnancy, the organism of the future mother and her unborn child.

[1],

Causes of autoimmune thyroiditis in pregnancy

In a period not associated with the reproductive functions of the human body, or during pregnancy, the causes of autoimmune thyroiditis are identical. The only difference is that the "interesting position of a woman" only aggravates the situation by activating and strengthening the imbalance of thyroid hormones.

The considered disease is attributed to the genetic predisposition of the human body to this type of pathology. Most often in the genomic complex are violations in HLA-DR5 and / or HLA-B8. This violation is mainly traced in the circle of one family. Often, it is not diagnosed separately, but in combination with other pathologies of an autoimmune nature.

The basis for this conclusion is the analysis of the anamnesis of the family, as well as the cases in which odnoyaytsovye twins are born. There are no single situations when one of the born patients was diagnosed with the disease examined in this article, whereas the other's organism was burdened, for example, with diffuse toxic goiter, which also belongs to the category of autoimmune pathologies.

Autoimmune thyroiditis is classified as multifactorial disease. Reproduction of the program for the development of the disease is catalyzed by the confluence of certain factors that have both a chemical, morphological, physical, and biological nature.

[2], [3], [4],

Autoimmune thyroiditis and IVF

Not having received the desired conception, some couples, not wanting to put up with the defeat, try to resort to in vitro fertilization (IVF), without bothering even to bother to determine the cause of failure. Or another option: the disease is recognized, treatment is performed, but inefficient, which is a threat to the fertilization of the egg. If a woman has one of the above problems, autoimmune thyroiditis and eco become incompatible. In such a situation, there will be no result from artificial insemination.

If a woman has this disease, which leads to a decrease in the level of hormones in the blood, then, first of all, she needs to undergo examination and consultation with an endocrinologist, as well as systematic treatment under his supervision. After that, we can talk about planning for pregnancy. Only against the background of hormone therapy, even with the use of extracorporeal fertilization with the subsequent transfer of embryos to the mother's womb, the future mother has the opportunity not only to conceive, but to bear fruit.

[5], [6], [7], [8]

How does autoimmune thyroiditis affect pregnancy?

The considered disease, in the absence of a decrease in the level of hormones in the blood, does not do much harm to a person, but not in the case of a pregnant woman. After all, pregnancy is already a stressful condition for the body, in which it begins to rebuild, changing and its hormonal background, which invariably affects the severity of autoimmune thyroiditis.

As many people know, that in the body of a woman during the period of her bearing, there is an aggravation of many hitherto "dozing" pathologies. This also applies to autoimmune thyroiditis, which after fertilization of an egg can activate, aggravating the situation.

After conception, a woman needs up to 40% more substances produced by the thyroid gland. At the same time, if there were problems before conception in this area, after the fertilization the situation will only worsen.

Therefore, the answer to the question, how does autoimmune thyroiditis affect pregnancy? There can be only one - negative, up to a miscarriage. This can happen in a situation where the patient does not receive proper substitution therapy, which compensates for the lack of substance.

Pathogenesis

If there is a woman in the history of the disease in question, during her pregnancy, it is likely that additional physiological stimulation (as in the case of iodine deficiency) will not lead to the desired result. That is, the production of thyroid hormones, so necessary for the normal development of the fetus, will not increase, but remain at the same level, and even decrease. Which will invariably lead to an even greater lack of them.

In addition, the pathogenesis of the disease, against the backdrop of the "interesting situation" of a woman, is capable of provoking an even greater degree of lack of substance, provoking the emergence of a manifestation of hypothyroidism with its pathological symptoms.

But, as practice shows, not any increase in the quantitative component of antibodies to thyroid peroxidase indicates the presence of the patient in the disease in question, it may be, for example, hypothyroxinemia. To understand this question and put the correct diagnosis can only a qualified specialist. In our case - a doctor - an endocrinologist.

As shown by monitoring, an obvious clinical picture of the disease is observed in 1 - 1.4% of the population, whereas in every tenth healthy woman, physicians find the presence of antibodies to peroxidase in their blood. This diagnosis is established for every 30 women.

Symptoms of autoimmune thyroiditis in pregnancy

The thyroid gland consists of connective fibers with an interlacing of nerve receptors and blood vessels. Thyroiditis is an inflammation affecting these tissues. Quite often, pathology passes asymptomatically (the stage of euthyroid or subclinical hypothyroidism). Mostly, this clinical picture is inherent in patients with a normal amount of hormones in the patient's blood serum. Symptoms of autoimmune thyroiditis in pregnancy begin to appear only in the case when the number of antibodies in the blood increases, and the production volumes of thyroid gland become less and less.

When the process is activated, the following symptoms may appear:

• Increase in the volume of the thyroid (goiter). With this disease, the size parameters of the gland do not show large values.
• With palpation, a seal can be found, which is predominantly not painful.
• There may be a slight weight loss.
• Increase in heart rate (tachycardia).
• There may be increased irritability.
• Euthyroidism is a multinodal goiter.

First signs

For the most part, a woman does not even guess that she has an anamnesis in the pathology in question. She just feels a slight discomfort, which, often, writes off on her condition, lifestyle, working rhythm, leading to fatigue. The first signs of the disease can be detected quite accidentally during the next preventive examination. Or if the symptoms begin to worsen, manifesting more clearly.

Initially, during palpation, a person can grope on the face of his neck some unnatural compaction - this discovery should encourage him to go after consulting a specialist, since this fact is only probable and does not necessarily indicate the presence of the disease considered in this article.

[9]

Acute autoimmune thyroiditis in pregnancy

This form of the disease is rarely diagnosed. Acute autoimmune thyroiditis during pregnancy is confirmed, in general, when a woman enters the body of gram-positive microorganisms. They provoke the inflammatory process, which, often, we go through with the formation of abscesses.

[10], [11]

Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis in pregnancy

Lymphocytic thyroiditis, obsolete goiter Hashimoto, lymphomatous - all these diseases are classified as autoimmune. Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis in pregnancy progresses on the basis of developing infiltration of T-lymphocytes into the thyroid parenchyma.

With the flow of this type of changes, in fact, an increase in the number of antibodies to the cells of the thyroid gland, which pushes the body to a gradual destruction. As a result, there is not only a violation in the work of the gland itself, which invariably affects the entire body, but also on the structural characteristics of the organ.

Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis in pregnancy is of a genetic nature. Therefore, if such a diagnosis has taken place in the family, it is not superfluous for a woman planning a pregnancy to undergo preliminary consultations with a specialist and, if necessary, to take adequate measures of substitution.

If such measures are not taken, then the very conception or bearing of the baby becomes threatened. The probability of a miscarriage is high.

[12],

Postpartum autoimmune thyroiditis

For the time being, a woman may not even guess about the presence in her body of a malfunction associated with the work of the thyroid gland. Everything can begin when it enters a new status. Stress for the body is maternity care, after which the maternity body is rebuilt again, since he has to continue working in a regime without a developing fetus.

Pathology, progressing in this period on the post-trait signs, is called postpartum autoimmune thyroiditis. The main reasons for its development are:

• The increased effect of estrogen (female sex hormones) on the lymphocyte system of the body's defenses.
• The rapid growth of immunity in the parturient woman, which occurs after obstetric care. And this is against the background of their recent oppression. Physicians observe the hostile activation of immune structures that are capable of producing special antibodies that damage, including cells of their own organism. Thyroid gland can also suffer such a fate.

According to medical statistics, the probability of developing postpartum autoimmune thyroiditis increases with the onset of a new pregnancy. At the same time, the severity of postpartum symptoms is more pronounced than in the worse state of iron before conception.

Depending on the severity of the pathology in question, postpartum manifestations can be expressed in different ways. This can be a set of the following symptoms, their individual manifestations or complete absence of symptoms.

• A slight amplitude of tremor in the phalanges, upper limbs or the entire body.
• Continuously observed, without obvious reasons, elevated temperature readings of the body (within 37 - 38 ° C), with periodic bursts up to 39 ° C.
• The life of a young mother is usually very dynamic, as she needs to do several things at the same time. It is this excessive energetic and can become a catalyst for the development of the disease.
• Emotional lability is the unstable emotional state of the mother.
• Increased heart rate and inspiration / expiration.
• Decrease in weight, even against a good appetite.

If such signs are available, it will not be superfluous to inform them of their physician about them.

Effects

To assess the danger of a disease, it is worth to learn what consequences the ignoring of the problem entails. If such a patient does not undergo substitution treatment, she can expect:

• Depletion of cells of the central and peripheral nervous systems, which is accompanied by the appearance of the corresponding symptomatology:
  • Periodic depression.
  • Unreasonable change of mood.
  • Irritability.
  • The appearance of panic attacks.
  • And others.
• Problems in the work of the heart and blood system:
  • Increase in cholesterol in the blood.
  • Tachycardia (acceleration) or vice versa bradycardia (decrease) of the heart rhythm.
  • Heart failure.
• The larger the size of the goiter, the greater the compression directed to neighboring organs and systems.
  • Problems with breathing.
  • Change of voice.
  • Difficulties in swallowing.
• Changes affecting the work of women's bodies:
  • Failure or complete termination of the menstrual cycle.
  • Infertility.
  • Polycystic ovary.
• In the nodes there is a risk of degeneration into cancerous structures with further metastasis.

[13], [14], [15], [16]

Complications

If to speak about the period when the woman expects a birth of the kid the most dangerous complications which can wait for the woman - a miscarriage. But not only this development of pregnancy can threaten the future mother, who ignores the prescription of a specialist in taking hormone replacement drugs. If she refuses treatment, she can expect other troubles, for example, in the form of placental insufficiency, that nothing good foreshadows the fetus or gestosis, a toxicosis of late pregnancy. These complications include: the manifestation of edema, seizures (eclampsia), increased blood pressure, loss of protein in the urine.

The antibodies produced on the background of the disease on thyroglobulin and thyroperoxidase smoothly cross the placental barrier, which can not adversely affect the developing embryo (namely, the cells of its thyroid gland). As a result of all of the above - the loss of a child by a woman - not the bearing of the fetus and its miscarriage.

With the most unfavorable course of the pathology, the functioning of all organs and systems of the body can be disrupted, which invariably leads to disability.

[17], [18]

Diagnosis of autoimmune thyroiditis in pregnancy

Sometimes the only indication that a woman has an anamnesis of a disease under consideration in this article may be the presence of this pathology in someone from close relatives of a pregnant woman. Diagnosis of autoimmune thyroiditis in pregnancy is a complex approach to the survey:

• Physical examination by a specialist: an increase in the volume of the thyroid gland, palpation shows the presence of a seal.
• Inspection and consultation of the endocrinologist.
• Laboratory blood tests: an increased amount of antibodies to thyroid peroxidase, an increased level of thyroid-stimulating hormones.

In view of the fact that a woman does not always feel obvious manifestations of pathology, it is advisable to screen for the disease not later than 12 weeks of pregnancy.

[19], [20]

Analyzes

One of the most revealing diagnostic methods in this case are laboratory studies. Analyzes of a woman's blood make it possible to recognize the presence of antibodies to thyroglobulin and / or thyroperoxidase. The presence of antibodies to both substances is a serious fact, indicating the presence of autoimmune thyroiditis in the body of a woman, or a high risk of its development in the near future.

As a rule, the presence or absence of T4 and TSH in the pregnant serum depends on the stage of the pathology. The level of thyroid-stimulating hormones (TSH) is also analyzed. If this index is less than 2 MDL / L, no corrective therapy is prescribed, if this index is more than 2 MED / L, but less than 4 MED / L - the pathology has a high index, which already requires medical intervention. If the level of TSH is higher than 4 mU / L, the risk of diagnosing autoimmune thyroiditis is high.

[21], [22], [23], [24], [25]

Instrumental diagnostics

In recent years, new methods of research have come to the aid of physicians. In the light of the pathology in question, instrumental diagnostics, which can facilitate the diagnosis, also exist. Here can be useful:

• Echography - ultrasound diagnosis, due to the acquisition of images by recording the reflected from the object of an ultrasonic wave. The informativeness of this method is determined by the figure of 80-85%.
• Fine needle aspiration biopsy - sampling of the cellular composition of the "suspicious" adrenal gland formation. It allows to differentiate autoimmune thyroiditis from diseases with similar clinical symptoms.

Differential diagnostics

In the presence of laboratory and instrumental research results, an experienced specialist is needed so that the differential diagnosis is completed with the correct setting of the disease.

The difference in the hypertrophic manifestation of autoimmune thyroiditis and diffuse nontoxic goiter is a different density of education. Confirmation of this diagnosis becomes a different clinic and the presence of autoantibodies in the serum.

The first pathology shows a weak clinical picture, and there is no eye symptomatology.

Autoimmune thyroiditis does not belong to neoplasms of a benign nature, therefore its degeneration into malignant forms has a very low probability. Rarely, it can be lymphoma.

The classical morphological criterion of the pathology in question is the place of its development or the progression of infiltrates of thyroid lymphocytes. A typical factor in this disease is the presence of large oxyphilic cells.

With the help of increasing equipment, it is possible to recognize dense formation of the deposits of immune complexes. Possible detection of such structures as fibroblasts (cells of the connective tissue of the body, synthesizing the extracellular matrix).

[26], [27], [28], [29]

Treatment of autoimmune thyroiditis in pregnancy

To date, a typical therapy, suitable for any case of cupping, has not yet been developed. Modern methods can not effectively affect the autoimmune processes that progress in the thyroid gland, leading to a complete recovery and the return of its normal functioning.

As in the case of other patients, the treatment of autoimmune thyroiditis in pregnancy is performed by the substitution therapy. The essence of such activities in the selection of the appropriate medication and its dosage, which would support the body's level of hormone production, which is necessary for the normal functioning of the whole organism as a whole.

In light of the condition in which the pregnant woman is, the goal of all manipulations is to prevent the development of hypothyroidism. There are no special features in stopping the problem in pregnant women. The disease is stopped by the general rules, which are prescribed for the treatment of any patient.

The first trimester after conception is most responsible. At this time, there is a laying of all organs and systems of the nascent organism. Therefore, the probability of a miscarriage is high, especially if the organism of the future mother is burdened by pathology. This fact also applies to autoimmune thyroiditis. In the role of substitution therapy, against the background of the first trimester, the pregnant woman usually receives hormonal drugs, sedative and anti-stress medications.

If the manifestations of the disease in question affect the period of the second and / or third trimester, drugs regulating the work of the central nervous system, diuretics, hypotensive drugs are added to the protocol of treatment. Such a patient is prescribed a medicine capable of leading to the rheological and coagulation characteristics of the blood, hepatoprotectors, antioxidants, immunomodulators, medicines that improve uteroplacental blood flow, vitamin-mineral complexes, drugs that affect metabolism, as well as, if necessary, detoxification therapy .

Medications

As already noted in the previous paragraph, depending on the trimester in which the pregnancy and clinical pathology stays, the protocol of substitution therapy may contain a different set of diverse medical devices. But one is invariable, it necessarily contains medicines of the group of thyroid hormones, designed to fill their deficiency in the body. It can be such drugs as thyroxine, levothyroxine, eutirox, novotiral, bagotiroks, thyrotome, L-thyrox and others.

Levotiroksin begin to take with the minimum daily dosage - from 0.0125 to 0.025 g. The drug is taken once a day. On average, daily intake in the amount of 0.025 to 0.2 g is allowed. To obtain the greatest effect, levothyroxine should be administered 20 to 30 minutes before meals.

To small patients this dosage is selected depending on the age group: newborns up to six months of age - 0.025-0.050 grams, up to a year - up to 0.06 grams. If the patient's age falls within a period of from one year to five, up to 0.1 g, from six to twelve - 0.1 to 0.15 g. Children older than twelve - up to 0.2 g daily.

During the therapy the patient is subject to constant medical control. Monthly the TSH content in the blood should be checked. If this indicator exceeds the control 2 mIU / L, the dosage of levothyroxine rises by 0.025 g.

Along the way, the pregnant woman receives sedatives: motherwort, valerian, Novo-Passit.

Immunostimulants: Eleutherococcus (but not alcohol). With the medicinal forms of this group, you should be very careful and take only those that have been prescribed by a specialist. Self-medication is unacceptable, especially in this period. After all, a woman is responsible not only for herself, but also for the life and health of her unborn baby.

Medicines that improve utero-placental blood flow: dipyridamole, xanthinol, penselin, quarantil and others.

Alternative treatment

Many pregnant women, fearing to harm the fetus, do not want to use pharmacological drugs to stop the problem, considering them harmful to the health of the baby. They prefer alternative treatment, perceiving it as a harmless effective therapy. But this is fundamentally not true. Most drugs have a common effect on the body, treating one problem and neutralizing the other (or pathologically). Therefore, in order not to harm yourself, if you want to use one of the methods of alternative therapy, you should consult a doctor and an obstetrician - a gynecologist who is leading the pregnancy. Only with their consent this treatment is permissible.

We want to offer you several recipes that really show an effective reception result.

• When treating the symptoms of autoimmune thyroiditis, a mixture of beet and carrot juices is a good idea. It is necessary to get the freshly squeezed juices of these tubers. Mix them in a ratio of one part beet and three carrot juice. To increase the effectiveness of the therapeutic fluid, you can enter a tablespoon of linseed oil (anyone with a curative effect will do). This will allow the mixture to be adsorbed better. Take a glass of juice twice - three times throughout the day.
• Similarly, you can prepare and assorted of lemon and cabbage juices.
• A decoction prepared on the basis of sea kale, which is rich in iodine, will also help.
• Fresh juice made from vegetables such as cabbage (25 ml), spinach (50 ml), carrots (100 ml) and beetroot (25 ml) is also effective. Take a glass of juice twice - three times throughout the day.
• An effective result shows the intake of tinctures on pine buds. A pair of boxes of vegetable product purchased at the pharmacy, crushed and placed in a vessel. Fill the vessel with forty-degree vodka. Cork it and put it in a warm place for three weeks. At the end of the period, the contents should be drained. The brownish shade obtained daily treats the thyroid gland area. If the treatment is permanent, then after a certain period of time the disease will recede.
• A good result of therapy shows the treatment of autoimmune thyroiditis with bear bile. Pre-prepared infusion of 50 g of celandine, 50 g of parsley and a half liter of vodka. In this form, the composition is insisted for a week, after which 20 - 25 g of bear bile are added to it. The medicine is left for a week to be infused. In this case, it should be shaken periodically. The therapeutic liquid is taken 20 to 25 drops three times a day for a month. Weekly break and treatment are repeated until the drug is over.

Acceptance of these medicines will always positively affect the patient's health.

[30], [31], [32], [33]

Herbal Treatment

Not the last place in the therapy of autoimmune thyroiditis is taken and preparations on a plant basis. Herbal treatment is very effective, but it is necessary to have a preliminary consultation with a specialist. If permission is obtained, let us recall a number of recipes that are easy to prepare and at home.

• Very effective infusion of celandine. But this plant is considered to be poisonous, so it is very important to follow the recommendations for dosage. Take the jar, fill it with flowers and leaves of pre-crushed plants. The remaining space is filled with forty-degree vodka. The resulting capacity is set aside for two weeks. After this, the composition should be filtered off. Liquid drink 25 grams on an empty stomach in the morning. Starting input is started with two drops diluted with a quarter of a glass of water (approximately 25 ml). Systematically increase the volume of two drops every day, bringing up to 16 drops per day. After that, the course of treatment is a month. Then a ten-day break and the course is repeated. The full cycle of therapy consists of four such courses with intervals of rest from treatment.
• Flowers of elecampane should be put in a jar, which is filled with vodka. Cork and insist for two weeks. At the end of the period, the composition should be filtered and pressed cake. The resulting medicine gargle once a day just before bedtime. Swallowing is undesirable. There is no definite period of therapy. Prolonged permanent procedures usually lead to the fact that the disease recedes.
• You can also offer herbal tincture. Primarily make up the collection by taking in the same proportions (50 g each) homeopathic tincture of fucus, plantain, field ivy, sea cabbage (double weight - 100 g), pine buds, walnut partitions. All ingredients should be ground and mixed well. Place in a container and pour steep boiling water. Put this combination on a small fire, bring to a boil and stand for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and add 50 g of honey and finely chopped one lemon. Again put on the fire for a quarter of an hour. At the end of the period, the broth should cool and drain. Take a tablespoon immediately before the main meal, three times a day.

Homeopathy

To date, in the replacement therapy of the disease in question, traditional medicine does not allow the presence of homeopathic therapy. But recently homeopathy has expanded its range and is ready to offer effective means in the fight against the disease of interest to us.

But it should be noted that there are practically no highly qualified specialists in this field of medicine in our country. The only country where homeopathy is put on a high level is China. Therefore, if there is a desire to be treated precisely by such methods, it is better to take such a course in this country with the assistance of experienced homeopaths. If such an opportunity is not available, we advise you not to risk your health and the health of your baby by taking doubtful medications. At best, you can lose a certain amount of money, at worst - your health or the life of the baby.

Operative treatment

In principle, physicians do not resort to non-medicamentous methods of therapy of autoimmune thyroiditis. Rarely, surgical treatment of the disease is also prescribed.

At such a step, the attending physician can go in case the size of the thyroid gland acquires large parameters. Such volumes begin to shift from their normal place the neighboring bodies and structures, giving in to their pressure.

Most resection of the thyroid gland is carried out either before the onset of conception, or even after childbirth.

Detailed information about all the methods of treatment of autoimmune thyroiditis is found here.

Prevention

Since the disease in question belongs to the category of pathologies of a genetic nature, it is almost impossible to give any recommendations that can prevent the onset of this disease. But to smooth out the symptoms and prevent its progression is entirely human. Therefore, the prevention of pathology in this situation may include:

• Maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
  • Rejection of bad habits.
  • Hardening.
  • Walks in the open air.
  • Moderate physical and emotional stress.
  • Vaccination.
• Healthy nutrition. In the diet should be enough products that are rich in iodine.
• Immediately before the planning of pregnancy, it is not superfluous to undergo a complete examination and, if necessary, a course of treatment.
• Prevention of infectious and viral diseases.
• Timely and full-scale treatment of various diseases.
• Supporting the body's defenses at the proper level.
• Do not ignore preventive examinations.
• Avoid contact with radioactive and toxic substances, prolonged exposure to the open sun, reduce the time of visiting the solarium.
• If autoimmune thyroiditis is detected during pregnancy, it is necessary to contact the specialist in a timely manner and fulfill all his requirements for the relief of the problem.
• Prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.
• No self-treatment.

Forecast

In principle, if the mismatch in the thyroid gland is associated with pregnancy, it is possible that after the birth the hormonal background is normalized, and the problem will resolve itself.

But in a number of cases the disease turns into a chronic form, then the prognosis of pathology is a lifelong need for maintenance therapy.

Therefore, in the light of this development of the clinic, the attending physician practices control of the thyroid function, starting from the early stages of pregnancy. A control study such a patient takes place one year after the birth of the child. If the pathological manifestations are gone - it is removed from the dispensary registration, if not, then for the rest of her life she will have to undergo a periodic examination and take hormone replacement drugs by courses.

If pregnancy is planned or conception has already occurred, negligence regarding one's health is unacceptable. Autoimmune thyroiditis in pregnancy is not a sentence, but one can not ignore the problem. A complete examination, control of TSH in the blood and maintenance therapy is something that will allow a woman to tolerate and give birth to a healthy baby. The created problem can be solved only together with the qualified medical personnel. Self-medication here is unacceptable, because it is a threat not only to the health of women and the fetus, but also for the very outcome of pregnancy!

[34], [35], [36], [37]

ICD-10 code

According to the international classification of diseases of the tenth revision (code on microbial 10), the disease, called in medicine as an autoimmune thyroiditis, has one more name - thyroiditis Hashimoto Hasitoxicosis. This pathology is assigned code E 06. The exception is only the postpartum manifestation of the disease, denoted by code O 90.5. Within the framework of E 06, there is a differentiation in the genesis of the problem:

• E06.1 Subacute thyroiditis.
• E06.2 Chronic thyroiditis with transient thyrotoxicosis.
• E06.3 Autoimmune thyroiditis.
• E06.4 Medical thyroiditis.
• E06.5 Thyroiditis.
• E06.9 Thyroiditis, unspecified

Pregnancy planning

Any gland works in the body to synthesize the substance necessary for its full functioning. The thyroid gland is an organ of internal secretion, as its product goes not to the external, but to the internal environment, absorbed into the blood. In case of failure, the body begins to produce antibodies to thyroid peroxidase and thyroglobulin, which gradually leads to the destruction of thyroid cells.

If a woman already had to face this problem and is planning pregnancy, the future mother begins to show increased excitement, which is understandable. And the first thing that interests her, how will the disease affect the course of pregnancy, the state of health of her and the future baby?

It should be noted that the considered pathology of conception is not a hindrance in case the disease proceeds without lowering the hormonal level in the blood. The woman feels only a small discomfort. In such a situation, the pathology can be detected accidentally with a full examination, which the woman passes at the moment when she becomes registered in the women's consultation.

As statistics show, one in five patients diagnosed with autoimmune thyroiditis still lack hormones. In this situation, conception is problematic, but it can still happen if the patient receives an effective substitution therapy.

At the same time, the attending physician should remember that the body's need for a pregnant woman in the thyroid gland grows, increasing by forty percent, which should invariably be reflected in the doses of the drugs taken.

It is advisable to advise women who are planning a pregnancy to undergo a complete examination of the body before conception, especially if there are some prerequisites for this. Including consultation and the doctor - the endocrinologist is necessary. If necessary, he will conduct an additional examination and appoint an adequate replacement therapy. In no case should you resort to uncontrolled use of drugs or self-medication of alternative medicine.