Hashimoto's disease is an autoimmune condition in which your immune system mistakenly attacks your thyroid gland. Symptoms include, an enlarged thyroid gland, fatigue, muscle weakness and weight gain. Other endocrine disorders, such as adrenal...
Your thyroid is one of the largest endocrine, or hormone-secreting, glands in your body. Located just beneath your Adam's apple, your thyroid traps iodine from your bloodstream and incorporates it into hormones that control cellular energy...
The foods you eat can affect the health of many different organs in your body, including your thyroid gland. There are some concerns about the safety of soy products for people with thyroid diseases, including Hashimoto's thyroiditis. If you have...
When you have an autoimmune disease, your immune system makes antibodies that target normal cells and tissues. This abnormal immune response can damage healthy parts of your body. The cause of this hypersensitive response is unknown. Celiac...
The thyroid is a small gland located below the Adam's apple that regulates the body's metabolism. A low thyroid level, which is called hypothyroidism, means the thyroid gland does not make enough thyroid hormone to keep the body running normally....
The thyroid gland is a butterfly-shaped organ that sits at the front of the neck. The gland consists of two lobes, one wrapped around each side of the trachea. The function of the thyroid gland is to make thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormone is...
The thyroid is a small gland situated below the Adam's apple in the neck. The thyroid produces hormones that affect the activity of nearly every tissue of the body, from the hair and nails to the heart and brain. Diseases and conditions of the...
Hashimoto's disease, or Hashimoto's thyroiditis, is a chronic inflammation of your thyroid gland caused by the production of antibodies within your body that injure the cells of your thyroid, leading to hypothyroidism. Hashimoto's thyroiditis is...
Most Americans eat gluten-containing foods every day, if not at every meal. From breakfast cereals, toasts and pancakes at breakfast to pasta, burgers, sandwiches, pizza, muffins and other baked goods, many foods are made from gluten-containing...
Hashimoto's thyroiditis is the most common thyroid condition in America. Caused by an autoimmune disorder, thyroid cells that produce thyroid hormones are damaged. The disease can appear in tandem with adrenal insufficiency, a disease...
The thyroid, a gland located in the neck, is responsible for secreting two hormones, thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), important in regulating many cellular functions in the body. When the levels of hormones are too low, the condition is...
The thyroid gland, located in the front of the neck, controls a number of metabolic functions in the body. Thyroid disease is common; about 10 percent of all women have some thyroid dysfunction and 10 million Americans overall have hypothyroidism,...
Hashimoto's thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease that effects your thyroid, a small gland that produces several hormones your body needs to function properly. Having one autoimmune disease places you at risk for developing others. Studies indicate...
Hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid disease, is an endocrine disorder characterized by abnormally low levels of thyroid hormones. The metabolic rate--the activity level of the body tissues--is controlled by thyroid hormones. Hypothyroidism...
The thyroid gland is responsible for producing the thyroid hormone, which is a very important hormone that helps regulate body temperature, appetite and other metabolic functions. Low thyroid hormone levels lead to a condition known as...
The body has many systems that react to various situations as a means of protection and maintaining functions. For example, the body produces antibodies to fight off infection from foreign substances such as bacteria. However, some conditions...
In 1912, a Japanese physician described what was to become the first known autoimmune disease -- a disease in which the body's own immune system begins to attack its own healthy cells. The physician was Hakuro Hashimoto and the disease is his...
Hashimoto's disease is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the United States, according to the National Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases Information Service. Hashimoto's disease occurs when the cells of your immune system attack the cells...
Your thyroid -- a gland situated in your neck, just above the collarbone -- is responsible for how well your metabolism works. When the thyroid is either overactive or underactive, your body does not use the energy it gets from food properly. The...
Low thyroid function, or hypothyroidism, is when the thyroid gland no longer produces enough thyroid hormone to maintain the normal functions of metabolism. A deficiency of thyroid hormone can have many different causes, but it is usually an...
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin found in foods such as saltwater fish, eggs and fortified milk. There are two kinds of vitamin D, and they can be obtained in the body through the diet or by exposure to the sun. The thyroid gland does not...
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland located just below Adam's apple on the neck. In response to signals from the brain, it secretes thyroid hormones, which are involved in the body's metabolism -- the speed at which the body executes its...
Chronic inflammation of the thyroid gland is a condition known as Hashimoto's disease. This inflammation damages the thyroid and can lead to impaired thyroid function, or hypothyroidism. This means not enough thyroid hormone is being produced, and...
Individuals with Hashimoto's disease may need to avoid gluten foods because, just like celiac disease, Hashimoto's is a chronic autoimmune disorder. An autoimmune disorder is a condition where the body's immune system attacks its own tissues; in...
According to Medline Plus of the National Institutes of Health, hypothyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland doesn't make enough thyroid hormone. The thyroid gland is located in the front of the neck and regulates thyroid hormone,...
Most genetic conditions involving the immune system are autoimmune conditions, which occur when the body mistakes a certain body tissue as foreign and destroys it. These diseases are complex disorders with both genes and environmental factors...
Antioxidants are gimmicky -- they have been included in everything from diet pills to beauty products, whether or not scientific evidence exists to back up the claims. Selenium is an antioxidant that has been inexplicably marketed as a weight loss...
The thyroid gland uses iodine to make the thyroid hormone. This hormone affects almost every cell in the body. Thyroid disease can, therefore, have wide-reaching effects. Thyroid disease can be malignant or it can be benign. It can also cause the...
According to the Mayo Clinic, "hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) is a condition in which your thyroid gland doesn't produce enough of certain important hormones." An underactive thyroid leads to weight gain, low energy and possible heart...
Autoimmune disorders are conditions that occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue. There are more than 80 different types of autoimmune disorders. Learn about the various autoimmune disorders including...