There are natural and very common among thyroid disorders both men and women. Most people are likely to experience an abnormal thyroid gland functioning at a period during in their life. However, women are more likely to develop thyroid disorders than most men.
Thyroid disorders are also most likely to affect adults than children. Thyroid glands are the glands responsible for the production of thyroid hormone. These thyroid hormones are responsible for the coordination of energy, metabolism, and growth in the body.
Issues begin to arise when the thyroid hormones are too low or high. Hypothyroidism is also known as low thyroid hormone; it is a condition that slows down your metabolism rate and reduces the growth of your other body parts.
What is Hypothyroidism?
Your thyroid gland is known as the little, butterfly-designed gland which is located right across the front of your windpipe. Put your fingers on the side of your Adam’s apple, then you swallow you would notice your glands moving under right through your hands.
This thyroid gland secretes hormones that control the process of metabolism and growth in the sections of your entire body.
The tiny gland found in the center of your head is known as the pituitary gland; it is released thyroid-stimulating hormones (TSH) and controls your mental physiology.
Thyroid-stimulating hormone is the message conveyed to the thyroid-secreting gland to secrete thyroid hormone.
At times, the thyroid-stimulating hormone increases, but your thyroid-secreting glands do not produce extra thyroid hormone to respond to the reaction. This condition is called the primary hypothyroidism in men, because the issue starts at the thyroid gland level.
Sometimes, the thyroid-stimulating hormone decreases, but the thyroid glands do not receive any signal to produce thyroid hormones. This condition is known as secondary hypothyroidism.
Low thyroid or hypothyroidism can cause various symptoms that can indicate that you have the condition. These symptoms include:
Feeling tired
The most popular indication or sign of hypothyroidism or underactive thyroid is the feeling of tiredness or being worn out. The thyroid hormone is responsible for controlling energy balance and influencing your need to have a nap or rest.
Thyroid hormones receive messages from the brain and coordinate cells in the body to distort its functioning; this, however, depends on what is happening in your system.
Individuals with a high level of thyroid hormones usually feel jittery and nervous. That is in contrast with people who have low thyroid levels, which tend to feel sluggish and exhausted.
Individuals with low thyroid levels tend to feel unrest although they get an adequate amount of sleep or rest. Feeling tired or worn out than the usual way can be a symptom of underactive in men.
Gaining weight
Another common and popular sign of underactive thyroid in men is an unexplainable weight gain. Men to have hypothyroidism tend to move less and engage in less physical activities. They also signal to their muscles, livers, and fat tissues to store fat and calories.
Your metabolism rate switches mode when your thyroid hormones are reduced. Instead of the usual burning of calories for activity and growth, your basal metabolic rate, and the energy you have tend to decrease.
Because of this, your body begins to hold on fat consumed from your diet. This simply shows that having reduced levels of thyroid hormones add immensely to the addition of extra weight in individuals.
If you experience an unexplainable weight gain, you must review your lifestyle because it adds to your healthy living.
However, if you are adding weight despite living a healthy lifestyle like exercising regularly but moderately, eating healthy foods, and keeping away from alcohol and smoking, you must visit your doctor for diagnoses.
Feeling cold
The principal end product of burning fat is heating. For instance, remember how you sweat when you work out; this occurs due to your burning fat. Even though you do not engage in strenuous activities, like sitting down, you still burn small amounts of fat.
But, if you have hypothyroidism, you tend to burn calories much slower because of your metabolic rate decreases. As your rate of metabolism reduces, the level of heat you would produce would be lowered.
Besides, the thyroid hormone is responsible for increasing the thermostat on brown fat. Brown fat is a species of human fat responsible for the generation of heat in the body; it is responsible for the maintenance of the heat produced in your body in cold weather.
However, when an individual develops hypothyroidism, it prevents the brown fat from performing its duties in the body. This is the reason why you tend to experience more cold than others near you colder.
Most men who have hypothyroidism are very sensitive to the cold weather than before. If you notice that you feel colder than usual, it is essential to visit your doctor because it can be an early symptom of low thyroid.
Weakness and aches in muscles and joints
Catabolism is a process by which the tissues of your body are broken down like muscles for energy. Low thyroid or hypothyroidism is responsible for the conversion of metabolism to catabolism.
During catabolism, the muscle’s strength tends to decrease and eventually lead to weakness in an individual. The breaking down of tissues like muscles for energy would subsequently results into aching in the joints and muscles.
Everyone tends to feel weak and worn out at a particular period in time; however, individuals with hypothyroidism feel weak more than usual as in comparison to healthy regular people without hypothyroidism.
Most individuals with hypothyroidism tend to have muscle cramps and joint aches with no record of a tedious activity. Individuals tend to feel aches and weakness after engaging in strenuous activities.
However, people who have hypothyroidism experience aching and weakness without engaging in any tedious work. You must visit your doctor if you are experiencing this.
Hair loss
The body’s cells and the follicles of the hair are well regulated by the thyroid hormones. Hair follicles are known to be very fragile and have a brief lifespan. As a result of this, they are susceptible to thyroid tissues than any other type of body tissue.
A low thyroid level in an individual restricts the hair follicles from regenerating, thereby causing a major hair loss in men. This condition tends to get better when the underactive thyroid is treated.
Research has also shown that men with underactive thyroid hormones tend to have coarse hairs on their body, head, and face. If you begin to experience an unexpected hair loss or your hair becomes coarser, you must visit your doctor.
Itchy and dry skin
The cells of the skin are susceptible and tend to become dry and itchy because of low thyroid hormones. Once the common old skin is broken, it might become difficult for your skin to regrow.
It means that the old skin may take a more extended period to shed, which would, in turn, result in dry and flaky skin. Lastly, low thyroid hormone levels are usually caused by diseases which are autoimmune.
This can negatively affect your skin and cause swelling with redness, and it is a condition popularly called myxedema. It is known to be closely associated with thyroid issues than other factors.
Feeling down or depressed
Hypothyroidism is closely associated with depression. The major evidences backing these claims are not entirely clear, but they initiate a mental sign of a reduction in the health energy of a person.
Another common cause of low thyroid hormone levels is the fluctuation of the postpartum stimulating hormones, which would eventually lead to depression.
If you feel depressed or sad, it is essential to visit a health care provider or therapist. He might help you get over depression, even if it is as a result of hypothyroidism or other conditions.
Trouble concentrating or remembering
Various individuals with hypothyroidism tend to have difficulties in remembering or concentrating on tasks. Patients with low thyroid hormones tend to have mental ‘fogginess’ and problems concentrating.
Complications with concentrating and memory can occur to any individual. However, if you suddenly experience severe difficulties with concentrating and remembering events, you must visit your doctor or therapists.
Constipation
Hypothyroidism is known to restrict a person’s colon. Research has proven that people with low thyroid hormones suffer from constipation compared to average thyroid hormone levels.
Although the illness is widespread among individuals with hypothyroidism, it is not the most severe symptom of hypothyroidism.
Conclusion
Low thyroid or hypothyroidism is a natural and prevalent disorder in men and women. It is associated with various symptoms such as excess weight gain, feeling cold, and fatigue. It can also cause issues with your muscles, skin, hair, mood, and memory.
Fortunately, there are various treatments for hypothyroidism, and they are quite inexpensive. If you have low thyroid hormones, primary treatment can immensely improve the quality of your life.
