Essay Example on Hypothyroidism & Diabetes: Causes, Effects, & Treatments

Introduction

Hypothyroidism gets caused when one's body doesn't produce a particular hormone that gets found at the front of their neck. The hormone gets released from a butterfly-shaped gland referred to as thyroid. The thyroid produces hormones that help one's body regulate and use energy (Biondi et al., 2019). Diabetes Mellitus is a metabolic disease that enables high blood sugar to occur. The insulin hormone transfers sugar from the blood into one's cells for storage or to get used for energy. When having diabetes, one's body doesn't produce enough insulin or is not able to effectively use the insulin it produces (Biondi et al., 2019). The study is limited in analyzing the history of hypothyroidism and Diabetes Mellitus diseases, their causes, their symptoms, their clinical tests, their treatment, and their morbidity and mortality.

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History of the diseases

The thyroid gland got first considered a rudimentary structure but later on evolved to an organ related to diseases, which led to the acknowledgment of iodine as important hence surgical treatment then came to light. Theodor Kocher found out that clinical picture after thyroidectomy was similar to cretinism in patients. In 1850, the first case of hypothyroidism, also known as myxedema, was explained (Kalyani et al., 2019). Later on, in less than fifty years, its effective treatment was introduced. Hypothyroidism got frequently caused by autoimmune thyroiditis. It is in areas with a lack of iodine deficiency.

The pituitary gland was discovered to be important by Oscar Minkowski between 1858 and1931 and ended up introducing the pituitary surgery for the treatment of pituitary tumors and acromegaly (Biondi et al., 2019). In 1877, a medical student discovered the parathyroid glands and their importance (Biondi et al., 2019). Rehn, Theodor Billroth, and Theodor Kocher introduced thyroid surgery. Oscar Minkowski demonstrated that severe diabetes mellitus could get caused by pancreatectomy, where all or part of the pancreas gets removed through surgery.

Causes of the diseases

One's immune system is formed in a way to protect their body's cells against viruses and bacteria. When viruses or bacteria enter one's body, their immune system responds by giving out fighter cells to destroy the foreign ones. The body sometimes confuses normal cells that are healthy for the cells that are invading (Kalyani et al., 2019). It gets referred to as an autoimmune response, which, if it gets not treated, can lead to the immune system attacking healthy tissues, causing severe medical issues such as hypothyroidism. An example of an autoimmune condition is Hashimoto's disease, which creates an underactive thyroid. The disease attacks the thyroid gland causing the inflammation of the chronic thyroid, which can reduce thyroid function.

The cause of type 1 diabetes has not yet gotten discovered. The immune system accidentally destroys the insulin that produces beta cells in the pancreas. In some people, genes play a role, or a virus sets off the immune system attack. Type 2 diabetes emerges from both genetics and lifestyle factors (Kalyani et al., 2019). Overweight, that is, having some extra weight, mostly in the belly, makes the cells resistant to insulin effect. Obesity also increases the risk. Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy resulting from hormonal changes. The bottom line is that both environmental and genetic factors play a role in causing diabetes.

Symptoms of the diseases

The symptoms of hypothyroidism vary from one person to another and sometimes could be challenging to spot. It begins with early symptoms such as gaining weight and fatigue. They both become common with age as the condition gradually progresses; the symptoms become easier to identify. The symptoms are as follows; fatigue, depression, constipation, feeling cold, dry skin, weight gain, muscle weakness, decreased sweating, slowed heart rate, pain and stiffness in the joints, dry thinning hair, elevated blood cholesterol, impaired memory, fertility difficulties, muscle stiffness, hoarseness and puffy, sensitive face.

The symptoms of diabetes are brought about by the blood sugar rising. They are as follows; weight loss, frequent urination, increased hunger, increased thirst, blurry vision, extreme fatigue, and sores that don't heal. Apart from the general symptoms, men with diabetes may also have a low sex drive, erectile dysfunction, and weak muscle strength. As for women with diabetes, they may also experience UTI that urinary tract infections and dry, itchy skin.

Some symptoms appear in type 1 diabetes and get not found in type 2 diabetes, and the same case goes to type 2 diabetes. For instance, unintentional weight loss is a type 1 diabetes symptom and sores that are slow to heal is a type 2 diabetes symptoms. Most women with gestational diabetes have got no symptoms.

Clinical tests used to diagnose diseases

Two tools can get used to determine if one has hypothyroidism that is a medical evaluation where a doctor carries out a thorough physical examination to check for hypothyroidism signs such as dry skin, slowed reflexes, swelling, and a slower heart rate (Jonklaas & Razvi, 2019). Furthermore, the doctor will enquire if his/her patient has been experiencing any symptoms such as fatigue, depression, constipation, or feeling cold constantly.

A blood test can also get carried out. A TSH test that is thyroid-stimulating test hormone measures how much thyroid-stimulating hormone their pituitary gland is producing. If one's thyroid does not produce enough hormones, the pituitary gland will boost TSH to increase the production of the hormone (Jonklaas & Razvi, 2019). If one has hypothyroidism, the TSH levels are high, and the body's stimulation of more thyroid hormones gets done. A T4, which is a thyroxine level test, is used in diagnosing hypothyroidism. Thyroxine is a hormone produced directly by one's thyroid.

To test diabetes, doctors use blood tests such as fasting plasma glucose test which measures ones blood sugar after fasting for 8 hours; the AIC test provides a snapshot of ones sugar levels over the last three months and gestational diabetes gets diagnosed when a doctor tests her blood sugar level between the 24th to 28th weeks of pregnancy (Jonklaas & Razvi, 2019).

Treatment for the diseases

Hypothyroidism is a lifelong condition but can be treated best by the use of levothyroxine that is Levothroid, Levoxyl (Nath et al., 2018). This medication gets designed to put back an adequate amount of thyroid hormone into one's blood. Once the hormones get returned, the symptoms are to disappear. The possibility of remaining on the medication for their entire lives is very high. There is an alternative treatment that is using animal extracts that contain thyroid hormone. The extracts come from the pig's thyroid glands.

Diabetes mellitus can sometimes get managed through diet and exercise. Some drugs can help in lowering the blood sugar in various ways that are alpha-glucosidase inhibitors which slow the body's breakdown of sugars and starchy foods, biguanides which reduces the amount of glucose their lives make, DPP-4 inhibitors which improve ones blood sugar without making it drop too low, glucagons-like peptides which change the way ones body produces insulin, meglitinides which stimulate one's pancreas to release more insulin, SGLT2 inhibitors which releases more glucose into the urine, Sulfonylureas which boosts one's pancreas to release more insulin and finally thiazolidinediones which helps the insulin work better (Pashkovska, 2016). One might take these drugs plus insulin.

Morbidity and mortality for the diseases

Morbidity is the unhealthy state of an individual, whereas mortality is the state of being mortal. The direct case-note assessment identified a 96% positive predictive value for hypothyroidism, the point’s prevalence of treated hypothyroidism increased from 2.2% in 1993 to 3.0% in 1996 (Langén et al., 2018). Mortality caused, and death strokes got not increased. Cardiovascular mortality was increased hypothyroidism patients, whereas cardiovascular morbidity got increased in treated hypothyroidism. It is, according to TEARS (Thyroid Epidemiology and Audit Research Study).

For diabetes mellitus, the frequencies of diseases that are cardiovascular events being on the lead at 56.6%, unnatural deaths at 15%, and infections at 10.9% (Langén et al., 2018). A large number of deaths were men except for respiratory and gastrointestinal, where it was the same for both men and women.

Conclusion

In conclusion, hypothyroidism and diabetes mellitus are very dangerous diseases that both affect one's hormones. They coexist in patients. They both involve dysfunction of the endocrine system. Their causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, morbidity, and mortality have gotten discussed at large in the body (Langén et al., 2018). The disorders of thyroid can have a substantial effect on glucose control, and if untreated, it can affect diabetes management in patients. They have no permanent cure, so they have to accept them as part of their lives and have to learn how to live with them by taking drugs, good dieting, and exercising.

References

Biondi, B., Kahaly, G. J., & Robertson, R. P. (2019). Thyroid dysfunction and diabetes mellitus: two closely associated disorders. Endocrine Reviews, 40(3), 789-824. https://www.iris.unina.it/retrieve/handle/11588/769475/281051/er.2018-00163%20%284%29.pdf

Jonklaas, J., & Razvi, S. (2019). Reference intervals in the diagnosis of thyroid dysfunction: treating patients, not numbers. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. https://eprints.ncl.ac.uk/file_store/production/253611/83A82718-ED18-4416-9490-E5B218E1A841.pdf

Kalyani, R. R., Corriere, M. D., Donner, T. W., & Quartuccio, M. W. (2018). Diabetes Head to Toe: Everything You Need to Know About Diagnosis, Treatment, and Living with Diabetes. Johns Hopkins University Press. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=s-B8DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Everything+You+Need+to+Know+About+Diabetes+&ots=EMinkJ1NNH&sig=XZ3MROOUSq2kgqRoizOqSOxQGkE

Langén, V. L., Niiranen, T. J., Puukka, P., Lehtonen, A. O., Hernesniemi, J. A., Sundvall, J., ... & Jula, A. M. (2018). Thyroidstimulating hormone and risk of sudden cardiac death, total mortality, and cardiovascular morbidity. Clinical endocrinology, 88(1), 105-113. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cen.13472

Nath, I., Bhattacharyya, S., & Saha, M. (2018). Study of electrolyte status in patients with thyroid dysfunction attending a tertiary care hospital of North Bengal. International Journal of Biomedical Research, 9(02), 72-75. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6125/a1700a1747f80ab72057162bfcf72ef00ef6.pdf

Pashkovska, N. V. (2016). Treatment of hypothyroidism according to modern clinical guidelines. International journal of endocrinology, (6.78), 48-58. http://iej.zaslavsky.com.ua/article/view/81860