Thyroid Treatment
Thyroid is a butterfly shaped endocrine gland situated in the anterior neck region. It controls the body’s sensitivity to other hormones, protein synthesis & rate of use of energy sources. Almost all the systems in the body are regulated by the hormones of thyroid gland which are thyroxine (T4), and triiodothyronine (T3) hormones mainly & other like calcitonin etc. These hormonal outputs are regulated by thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) which is produced by anterior pituitary gland in the brain.
Thyroid is vast topic to discuss, but few frequently found diseases due to affection at this vital largest endocrine gland are, Hyperthyroidism- occurs when the gland produces excessive hormones, which is metabolic disorder causes abnormal increased activities and in contrast to that Hypothyroidism- occurs when the gland produces insufficient amounts of its hormones, which causes abnormal decreased bodily activities.
Others are like Grave’s disease- an autoimmune disorder due to overactive thyroid gland, Hashimoto’s disease- another auto immune condition due to inflammation at gland, Autoimmune thyroiditis,and this gland may also develop several types of nodules e.g. Goitre and even Thyroid cancer.
Signs & Symptoms:
There are several symptoms as per the hypo or hyper condition of its hormones; all symptoms are of mimic and confusing in nature sometimes. Few common amongst them are, Hypothyroidism- weight gain, constipation, slow body activities, hair fall, hirsutism, lethargy, fatigue, feeling cold, dry skin, libido, breathless, palpitations, mood swings, sleepiness, depression, menstrual changes etc. Hyperthyroidism- exactly contrast to that over eating, weight loss, loose motion, over activeness, aggressive, warm feeling, polypepsia, insomnia, mood swing, heavy menstrual bleeding etc.
Ayurvedic View:
The major function of thyroid gland is to control the rate of metabolism which is regulated by master pituitary gland in the brain. The principle function of its hormone thyroxine is to act as a catalyst (like spark in nature) for oxidative metabolism in most of body tissues, almost every cells in the body receive its signals from these hormones and on amount of signals they receives will determine their performance or functions in the body. This concept is similar to the concept of ‘agni’ in ayurveda, means the inadequate proportion of agni leads to hyper & hypo thyroidism like ‘tikshnagni’ in hyper and ‘mandagni’ in hypo thyroidism which shows symptoms of particular tissues or systems which also get affected as per ‘sapta dhatus’ concept in ayurveda. The thyroid gland’s diseases are well mentioned in ayurveda as ‘galaganda’ and ‘apachi’ by some ancient writers. On other hand, we can compare major thyroid disorders with biochemical levels in the body which maintains its particular functioning. ‘Hypothyroidism’ can compare as, vata + kapha condition which causes slow body activities, decreased appetite, weight put on, slow metabolism, etc. vatakapaj symptoms , and ‘Hyperthyroidism’ as, vata + pitta condition, which causes high metabolism, increased appetite, weight loss, etc. pittavataj symptoms. Similarly ‘Goitre’ which can be comparing with ‘galaganda’ is the state of Kapha + vata doshas with destruction of ‘Meda dhatu’.
Treatment:
- Restoration of metabolism to maintain adequate state of digestive fire or ‘agni’.
- Stimulate the thyroid gland to functioning properly with its hormones.
- Application of ‘ART’, to rejuvenate every affected cell in the body.
- Dietary & life style advice.
