Knowing the Thyroid cancer is really a disease that affects the thyroid. Within this resource center for thyroid cancer, topics for example symptoms,prevention, and treatment.
What is thyroid gland and where it is situated?
Thyroid gland is a very important organ of the human body which is responsible for many important functions of it. This gland is situated just below the voice box in your throat. While a healthy thyroid has two lobes and is not felt below the neck, a diseased thyroid appears as a lump protruding from the skin of the neck. This is also known as the goiter and is caused due to the deficiency of iodine in the body. When this abnormality enhances further in the body it becomes cancerous. Only physician or an expert can detect it and tell whether the lump is cancerous or benign. Just few cases result in the cancerous growth otherwise majority of them are benign form of the abnormal growth.
Symptoms of thyroid cancer
The preliminary visible symptoms for the possible thyroid cancer are as follows.
- Change or hoarseness of the voice
- Pain in the neck
- Difficulty in swallowing solid or liquid
- Swelling in the neck
- Sensitivity of the neck and difficulty in wearing necklaces, scarves, nocktles
- Difficulty in breathing
- A chronic, persistent cough that is not due to illness or allergies
- A chronic, persistent cough that is not due to illness or allergies
A large nodule on one side of the thyroid gland and nothing on the other
Nodules which cause the wind pipe to go to one side of the neck
How is thyroid cancer detected?
There are series of procedures that are required to be carried out once the visible symptoms of the thyroid cancer surface as the early thyroid cancer does not show any significant physical symptoms.
- Physical examination of any swelling in your neck area
- Blood tests to determine the abnormal growth of the TSH (Thyroid stimulating hormones)
- In case medullary thyroid cancer is suggested, the physician may opt for checking high levels of calcium in the blood or the RET gene.
- Other diagnostic procedures to validate thyroid cancer symptoms may involve an ultrasonography, a radionuclide scanning, or a biopsy.
- Biopsy is a procedure whereby a sample tissue is examined under a microscope to determine if the cells have become malignant (cancerous).
What are the various treatment methods for the thyroid cancer?
Once a positive diagnosis is established, the patient has the option to go for natural thyroid treatments or settle for the routine allopathic procedures and prescription medication.
Surgery
This is the most common thyroid cancer treatment, which could mean removal of the entire thyroid (Total thyroidectomy) or the lobe with the cancerous nodule (lobectomy). Sometimes an operation is required to check for cancer that may have spread. In cases where cancer has indeed spread, an I-131 therapy or external radiation is necessary for its treatment. Practically all patients who have had their thyroid gland removed require thyroid hormone pills to substitute the natural hormone.
Thyroid Cancer
Radioactive iodine therapy
This is another thyroid cancer treatment method to destroy thyroid cancer cells anywhere in the body. In cases where low dosage of radioactive iodine (I-131) is required the patient is not hospitalized but treated as an outpatient. However, this therapy does not work in cases of medullary thyroid cancer or anaplastic plastic cancer
External radioactive therapy
Patients in advanced stage of thyroid cancer do not respond to radioactive iodine therapy and require a local therapy known as external radioactive therapy. This involves directing high-energy X-Rays to the affected part. This process can mean daily visits to the hospital for several weeks.
Chemotherapy
There are also drugs that can kill cancerous cells. This is a systemic therapy, which is a common thyroid cancer treatment, known as chemotherapy because the drugs enter the bloodstream and travel throughout the body.
Alternate therapies
Natural remedies have been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years to support the solid thyroid health and health of the endocrine system, helping to support and balance efficient hormone production and natural thyroid gland function.
Natural therapies are natural, safe, effective and powerful herbal formula that contains herbs that have been carefully selected for their beneficial effect on thyroid functioning, as well as on overall systemic health. It will help to restore healthy thyroid functioning; treat iodine deficiency causing hypothyroidism; ensure adequate production of thyroid hormones; assist with depression, fatigue, constipation, and weight gain.
