I was recently alerted to a blog post by Dr. Jeffrey Garber entitled “What You Should Know About Your Thyroid“. While much of the information in this article is already on my website in various places, this article does a great job of compiling it into a concise, easy read that will be very helpful to those new to thyroid issues. Topics covered are: explanation of what the thyroid is and what it does, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, autoimmune thyroid disorders such as Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and Grave’s Disease, thyroid nodules, and diagnosis and screening. It’s worth a quick read.
I came across a short article tonight stating that thyroid cancer rates are increasing. In fact, the number of cases of thyroid cancer have risen 6.5%. Doctors and researchers are not quite sure why, but suspect either better screening is behind the increase in cancer discovery or it’s something else entirely that they haven’t pinpointed yet.
Three possible factors doctors are considering as likely culprits are obesity, radiation exposure, and diets low in fruits and vegetables. Someone who is overweight has a 20% increased risk for thyroid cancer and those that are obese have a 53% increase in risk. Studies also show that people who have more dental x-rays have higher risk for thyroid cancer as well.
Estimates from the National Cancer Institute state that nearly 56,000 cases of thyroid cancer will be diagnosed this year. Statistics show that women are three times as likely to develop thyroid cancer than men. Women tend to suffer from thyroid problems in general more often than men. Fortunately, thyroid cancer is usually very survivable, with a 5-year survival rate of 97%.
