Goiters and nodules
Thursday, March 18th, 20101 – goiters:
Definition:
Diffuse increase in the volume of the thyroid gland that is not cancer or thyroiditis, which is not accompanied by disturbance of thyroid function.
Mechanisms:
- Inability of the thyroid gland to provide the amount of hormone needed to require the agency at some point.
- The decrease in hormone levels will lead to hyper-secretion of TSH, which will cause an enlargement of the gland.
Causes:
- Iodine deficiency
- Partial deficiency in thyroid hormones
- Using drugs that block the conversion of iodine (eg lithium) or certain foods (cabbage, rape)
Epidemiology:
- More common in women
- Depending on their frequency in a given population, it is called endemic goiter and sporadic.
- Endemic goiters occur in certain regions of the world generally have a deficiency in iodine (eg mountainous regions)