In Mexico, three out of every thousand women over the age of 50 suffer from thyroid problems. Those who are in the age range between 40 and 50 years are considered the risk group and those who are over 50 should have a screening test or thyroid profile. Regarding this, Alberto Mendoza Álvarez, postgraduate academic at the Faculty of Medicine (FM) of the UNAM.
Regarding this, he has stated that “on many occasions, patients do not perceive that something is wrong with their body, until the symptoms become more evident with the passage of time, and that prevents timely diagnosis and treatment.”
The main disorder that affects the thyroid is called hypothyroidism.
The main disorder that affects the thyroid is called hypothyroidism, which consists of insufficient production of thyroid hormone and some of its symptoms are intolerance to cold, anemia, dry skin, brittle hair, slow heartbeat, alterations in the mood, kidney disease and slow reaction capacity.
Also, patients may present with a hoarse voice, constipation, and a puffy face. The specialist warned that “they are all clinical manifestations that must be taken into account, since the disease does not manifest itself with a single symptom.”
There is no culture of prevention
Although it is true that in internal medicine, there is no culture of prevention for these disorders, which occur in a ratio of three women for every man. In addition, he pointed out that “they must be treated promptly because it is an endocrine gland that governs most of the vital functions of our body. If it does not work correctly, the whole organism is disturbed”.
The probability of suffering from them increases with age, reaching 14 per thousand women between 75 and 80 years of age, and 10 percent of cases have been registered in the general population over 60 years of age. In men the proportion is 0.6 per thousand.
When there is suspicion of hypothyroidism, a thyroid ultrasound should be performed to find out if there are modules. If so, a biopsy is necessary to determine if there are malignant cells. The evolution time of hypothyroidism or of the nodule is not always related to a greater or lesser probability of cancer.
