Symptoms of hyperthyroidism

Symptoms of hyperthyroidism can often be seen in ordinary people on the street, while not even suspecting that they are sick. Hyperthyroidism is a disease characterized by a diffuse enlargement of the thyroid gland, increased secretion of thyroid hormones, and as a result - a violation of the functional state of internal organs and systems. This disease is also called Based's disease, Graves' disease, Flanyani's disease, Pari's disease, thyrotoxicosis.

[1], [2]

Metabolism in hyperthyroidism

Hormones of the thyroid gland actively influence all processes in the body, and mainly on metabolism. Regulation of thyroid hormones occurs both at the level of cellular respiration, and at the level of metabolism of the whole organism.

Metabolism in hyperthyroidism is characterized by the acceleration of food digestion processes, inadequate assimilation of nutrients, and the rapid excretion of metabolic products. The main exchange for such people is increased, due to which a huge amount of energy is generated. The influence of the increased tone of the sympathetic nervous system on the gastrointestinal tract promotes increased secretion of gastric juice - therefore the food is quickly digested and moves on. In the intestine due to increased peristalsis absorption processes are insufficient, therefore people are thin. Such an intensive process of digestion facilitates the rapid saturation and rapid occurrence of a sensation of hunger.

At the level of cells, due to the insufficiency of nutrients, all energy is spent on providing vital functions to the organs and systems of the body. That is, the main exchange is maintained in excessive amounts and the rest of ATP is spent on thermal energy. This explains the moderate increase in temperature and increased sweating in patients with hyperthyroidism.

Also plays a role in the mode of food intake. Given the increased excitability of the nervous system, patients do not devote much time to the process of food intake, and this further disrupts the regulation of this process.

The first signs of hyperthyroidism

Characteristic symptoms of hyperthyroidism are diffuse enlargement of the thyroid gland. These patients note in the first place, since hyperplasia gives a feeling of discomfort in the neck and prevents breathing. As a consequence, the functional activity of the gland also increases and increases the synthesis of thyroid hormones, which in turn affects the internal organs.

The first signs of hyperthyroidism are most often nonspecific, and patients do not pay much attention to them until there are irregularities in the work of internal organs. At the beginning of the disease, muscle weakness and muscle group cramps predominate, excitability, fatigue, emotional lability, increased irritability, inability to concentrate. Since thyroid hormones primarily affect the nervous system, the nerve conduction increases, which causes such changes. These symptoms occur early in the development of the disease, and often the patient simply does not pay attention to them. When the thyroid gland is enlarged to a considerable extent, only then patients turn to the doctor. In this case, the gland is considerably enlarged in size, when palpating it is usually determined by a uniform thickening of the parenchyma, an elastic consistency, it moves easily, is not soldered to the skin, without signs of inflammation.

With a long course of the disease, in the absence of treatment, symptoms of internal organs lesions appear that are more difficult to correct.

External changes in hyperthyroidism

Thyroid hormones affect the trophic processes in the cell and with thyrotoxicosis there are changes in cellular activity and differentiation.

Hair changes are characterized by their fragility, excessive loss, hair loss. Hair structure becomes soft, thin, quickly zhirneyut. This is due to the effect of excess hormones on the sebaceous glands, which stimulates the release of skin fat. Also, hormones act on the hair follicle, and it hypertrophies with a violation of the function of feeding the hair itself.

Eye changes are a specific symptom of hyperthyroidism. Eye symptoms of varying degrees of severity depend on the degree of thyrotoxicosis. They are a consequence of increased tonus of the eye muscles, retraction of the orbital fiber and upper eyelids. All patients have exophthalmos, more often bilateral, which occurs at the onset of the disease, and then progresses and is accompanied by a pronounced luster in the eyes. In addition to exophthalmos, there are other signs:

• symptom Gref - during a look down the upper eyelid lags behind the lower and a strip of white appears;
• The symptom of Kocher is the lag of the lower eyelid when viewed from the bottom;
• Delrymple's symptom is a wide eyehole;
• Symptom Stelvag - not frequent blinking;
• Mobius symptom - fuzzy convergence, with narrowing of the pupil, one or both eyes deviate from the center.

Infiltration ophthalmopathy is the second eye symptom, which is detected in 50% of patients as a result of damage to the fiber of the orbit and muscle with autoantibodies with the development of edema. At the same time during the movement of the eyeballs to the right and left and up and down there is soreness, while there is sand and double vision in the eyes. These signs occur in severe thyrotoxicosis.

Skin changes in hyperthyroidism also have their own characteristics. First, people with this pathology look younger than their years. This is due to the fact that the skin is thin, velvety, tender, late wrinkles form. If a person is sick for a long time, then the skin changes are more serious. Infiltrative dermopathy is formed - thickening and thickening of the skin on the front surface of the shin and feet. The skin in this place is not going to fold. With a more severe course, there may be swelling of the tibia with bright hyperemia.

[3], [4]

Psychosomatics in hyperthyroidism

An increased level of thyroid hormones affects the nervous system by increasing the number of nerve impulses and the rate of their conduction. Imbalance in the regulation of the nervous system leads to the predominance of excitation processes, which affects the behavior of the patient, his nervous activity. As a secondary process - internal organs suffer because of a violation of the regulation of their work.

Psychosomatics in hyperthyroidism is a pathology of the activity of internal organs due to the disturbance of the normal activity of the nervous system. People get irritability, impatience, which leads to sleep disturbance - patients can not sleep for a long time or sleep badly, often wake up. Appetite is elevated, but people are skinny and often want to eat.

Haste leads to a violation of the general regime of the day, a violation of diet. It can be manifestations in the form of diarrheal syndrome, dyspeptic. Often complaints of severe abdominal pain by appendicitis type due to muscle spasm, but no organic changes. If you assign such patients to sedatives or antispasmodics for pain, then all the symptoms disappear, which is confirmed by psychosomatics.

Women may have irregular menstrual cycles in the form of polymenorrhea, bleeding. At a later age, there may be a delay in menopause.

If these changes are psychosomatic, then in the treatment of hyperthyroidism they disappear without special therapy.

It should also be noted the tendency to dizziness in hyperthyroidism. This is due to the regulation of the tone of the cardiovascular and nervous system. With a sudden change in the position of the body, for example, if the patient abruptly gets out of bed, the blood is deposited in the lower limbs, and the heart does not have time to react, because its contractions already have a high frequency - dizziness or loss of consciousness. It is easy to adjust if you evenly distribute the load.

Temperature with hyperthyroidism

Hormones of the thyroid gland affect almost all processes of vital activity of the human body. The regulation of body temperature also depends on them, although not directly through the center of thermoregulation, but indirectly through the activity of peripheral organs and tissues.

Patients often have complaints about excessive sweating. This is really a problem for the patient. Thyroid hormones increase metabolism, and in particular, the main metabolism, so a large amount of energy is generated, which goes to produce heat. At the same time, heat formation prevails over heat transfer.

Increased nervous excitability and speed of nerve impulse conduction affect the muscles, and a tremor is observed. This phenomenon also increases the production of heat and reduces the heat transfer process.

Because of these phenomena, patients have warm moist skin, hot forehead. The temperature with hyperthyroidism is increased, sometimes up to 37 degrees or slightly higher. These patients may not feel, with the exception of excessive sweating. But sometimes the temperature starts to disturb the patient and she does not fall under the influence of antipyretic drugs, since the mechanism of its occurrence is not central.

To eliminate this symptom, it is necessary to eliminate the very reason, that is, to reduce the level of thyroid hormones.

Pressure in hyperthyroidism

The activity of the cardiovascular system is directly regulated by thyroid hormones. They increase the heart rate, cardiac output, excitability and conductivity of the myocardium.

With a surplus of hormones, the heart suffers first. With an increase in heart rate, blood volume does not change, so blood pressure increases with hyperthyroidism, mainly systolic, due to an increase in stroke volume. The degree of its increase corresponds to the severity of the disease. Such arterial hypertension is not treated with antihypertensive drugs, since the mechanism of its occurrence is different.

The increase in the heart rate is felt by the patient as a tachycardia, not only with physical activity or excitement, but also at rest, which is especially characteristic of hyperthyroidism.

With prolonged thyrotoxicosis, organic changes in the myocardium can occur in the form of a disturbance of normal excitability. Patients on the electrocardiogram have an increased voltage of the teeth, they are sharp, with a short duration. Conductivity disorders in the form of extrasystoles, atrial fibrillation. Extrasystoles arise due to the fact that the heart rate increases so much that an additional cardiac contraction occurs.

With an increased cardiac output of time for diastole - "rest" of the heart - very little, and this contributes to the occurrence of atrial fibrillation.

Such violations of the heart rhythm can lead to organic lesions over time, for example, to the formation of thrombi in the lumen of the ears, so it is important to treat the disease before such serious complications arise.

Diabetes and edema in hyperthyroidism

The urogenital system itself is not directly affected by thyroid hormones, but sometimes patients have complaints. This may be due, most likely, to the regulation of the activity of the bladder and kidneys.

Diabetes in hyperthyroidism has a neurogenic nature. This is associated with an increased number of nerve impulses, sometimes even spurious, coming from the autonomic nervous system to the efferent nerve fibers that regulate the work of the urinary organs, and then from the organs along the afferent pathways to the cortical centers. Therefore, some, especially "active" patients may be disturbed by increased urination.

As for the distribution of the liquid, it has its own peculiarities. Increased sweating contributes to the increased need for fluid, and this - to hyperhydration. However, when compensating for the disease, there is no sign of an increased water balance. Edema in hyperthyroidism indicates a severe course of the disease. Then, along with the symptoms of thickening of the skin fold on the shin, there are significant swelling of the shin, marked redness and soreness. Other types of edema for hyperthyroidism are not typical. To date, due to timely diagnosis of the disease and adequate treatment, such complicated cases are not found.

[5], [6], [7], [8], [9]

Reflux for hyperthyroidism

The lesions of the gastrointestinal tract are very significant. There is an increase in the production of gastric juice, which can cause such an unpleasant symptom as reflux and the appearance of heartburn. Another is the increased tone of the parasympathetic nervous system and the lower esophageal sphincter relaxes. Most often reflux appears spontaneously, sometimes with a change in the position of the body - the slopes. Treatment of such a condition is symptomatic for heartburn.

Exocrine glands also suffer from thyrotoxicosis. The pancreas has a deficiency of function, and proteins, fats and carbohydrates are poorly digested.

Changes in the liver with hyperthyroidism are characterized by a worsening of bile outflow, stagnation of bile due to incorrect nervous regulation. The liver is affected by toxic metabolic products and hormone degradation products, which disrupts its normal function. Therefore, fatty degeneration of the liver parenchyma develops. Clinically, it can manifest as the appearance of jaundice, itching, changes in the biochemical analysis of blood - an increase in bilirubin total due to direct. The appearance of jaundice is an unfavorable sign of the course of the disease and is an extremely complicated complication. Therefore, early diagnosis and timely treatment can fully prevent complications of the disease, as well as eliminate all symptoms.

A clear control of the gland function is required in the future.

Symptoms of hyperthyroidism are very characteristic and specific for this disease. It is important not to miss the first signs and in time to seek help. Any doctor can see these changes, and in the case of timely diagnosis, many complications can be avoided. An important stage is the control of the patient's state of health and the therapeutic effect of the prescribed therapy.