Keep a watch on thyroid disorders, do regular check-ups: experts

At a webinar hosted by The Hindu in collaboration with Naruvi Hospitals, Vellore, under the Healthy India Happy India initiative on Sunday, medical experts focused on thyroid disorders, their prevention, and the importance of early detection. Aravindan Nair, consultant general and endocrine surgeon at Naruvi, gave a bird’s eye view on thyroid disorders emphasising on its prevalence and the need for regular check-ups. But specific tests are recommended when there is a gradual weight gain or weight loss, an increase in lethargy and sleepiness, having no interest in work, feeling tired and sleepy, having constipation or diarrhoea, menstrual irregularities, persistent palpitations and sweating, chronic cough, difficulty in swallowing or breathing, delayed growth in children are symptoms where hypo- or hyperthyroidism are suspect and individuals need to get examined for thyroid function test,” Dr. Chaitanya pointed out. Discussing thyroid disorders in pregnancy, Pooja Ramakant, Professor of Endocrine Surgery at King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, stressed on early detection and management because lot of changes that happen in the body of a pregnant woman mimic thyroid disorders, which is the second most common disorder after diabetes in pregnancy. Adolescents, pregnant women, men above 40 and women above 50 years are at a higher risk of developing thyroid disorders and need to watch out for the changes in their bodies, they added.