Treatment options
predisposed can develop them following exposure to a ‘trigger’.
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HYPERTHYROIDISM treatment can include drugs or surgery, and Dr Hurel says: “It may be very transient and settle without the need for medication, but depending on the cause tablets may be needed or it may be necessary to remove the thyroid gland with surgery or using radioactive iodine treatment.”
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Not smoking is important
HYPERTHYROIDISM is exacerbated by smoking, and smokers are up to eight times more likely to develop thyroid eye disease.
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Enlarged thyroid
WITH Christmas on the horizon, many of us will be spending time and money over the coming weeks buying gifts for our friends and loved ones.
There are lots of reasons why we give gifts, not least because it is a way of strengthening our bonds with others.
In giving gifts we can communicate an awful lot: how we feel about a person; how well we know them, and what they mean to us.
In giving a gift we are expressing how we perceive that relationship and hoping that the receiver understands the message we are trying to convey.
When we get it right, this can increase our sense of connection to others and improve our relationships.
A look at the research on the psychology of gift giving tells us one thing for sure: giving and receiving gifts makes people happy.
Givers get an increased sense of satisfaction, purpose and feel more positive about their own lives, while receivers also get a boost to their wellbeing.
Perhaps partly due to the moodlifting endorphins that giving and receiving gifts releases in our brains, several studies have found that gift giving is contagious.
Receivers of gifts are more likely to go on to give gifts themselves, as
THE thyroid can also be enlarged as a result of general swelling in one or more nodules. This is common and around 5-10% of adults have a palpable nodule, with many more detectable on scans. An enlarged thyroid gland is known as a goitre.
However, it’s always a good idea to get any swellings or lumps in the throat checked by a doctor, as they may sometimes be a sign of cancer.
“While it’s important to get any nodule evaluated, only around 5% or less are actually cancerous,” explains Dr Hurel, “and even then the vast majority of these are totally treatable.”