On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Related Issues
• Specifics
• Genetics

See, Play and Learn

• Images

Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Women
• Older Adults
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland in the front of your neck. It makes hormones that control the way the body uses energy. These hormones affect nearly every organ in your body and control many of your body's most important functions. For example, they affect your breathing, heart rate, weight, digestion, and moods.

Thyroid diseases cause your thyroid to make either too much or too little of the hormones. Some of the different thyroid diseases include:

• Goiter, an enlargement of the thyroid gland
• Hyperthyroidism, which happens when your thyroid gland makes more thyroid hormones than your body needs
• Hypothyroidism, which happens when your thyroid gland does not make enough thyroid hormones
• Thyroid cancer
• Thyroid nodules, lumps in the thyroid gland
• Thyroiditis, swelling of the thyroid

To diagnose thyroid diseases, your health care provider may use a medical history, physical exam, and thyroid tests. In some cases, your provider may also do a biopsy.

Treatment depends on the problem, how severe it is, and what your symptoms are. Possible treatments may include medicines, radioiodine therapy, or thyroid surgery.

Dept. of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health

Start Here

• Thyroid and Parathyroid Hormones (Endocrine Society)
• Thyroid Disease (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health) Also in Spanish
• Thyroid Disease (for Parents) (Nemours Foundation)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Needle Biopsy (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Thyroid Antibodies (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Thyroid Scan and Uptake (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Thyroid Tests (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) Also in Spanish
• Thyroxine (T4) Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Triiodothyronine (T3) Tests (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• TSH (Thyroid-stimulating hormone) test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Ultrasound - Thyroid (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy of the Thyroid (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Thyroid Disease (CAM) (American Thyroid Association)
• Older Therapies Aren't Necessarily Better for Thyroid Hormone Replacement (Food and Drug Administration) Also in Spanish
• Thyroid Hormone Treatment (American Thyroid Association) Also in Spanish
• Thyroid Surgery (American Thyroid Association) Also in Spanish
• Thyroidectomy (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Celiac Disease and Thyroid Conditions (Gluten Intolerance Group)
• Pendred Syndrome (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) Also in Spanish
• Potassium Iodide (KI) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Specifics

• Thyroid Nodules (Endocrine Society) Also in Spanish
• Thyroiditis (American Thyroid Association)

Genetics

• Inherited thyroxine-binding globulin deficiency: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Pendred syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)

Images

• Thyroidectomy - series (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Goiter (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Thyroid Diseases (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Thyroiditis, Autoimmune (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Dietary Habits, Nutritional Knowledge, and Their Impact on Thyroid Health in...
• Article: Availability, price, and affordability of diabetes mellitus and thyroid dysfunction medicines...
• Thyroid Diseases -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• American Thyroid Association
• Find an Endocrinologist (Endocrine Society)
• Find an Endocrinology - Thyroid Specialist (American Thyroid Association)
• Find an ENT (American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery)
• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Children

• Childhood Head and Neck Irradiation (American Thyroid Association) - PDF
• Thyroid Disorders (For Kids) (Nemours Foundation)

Women

• Postpartum Thyroiditis (American Thyroid Association) - PDF
• Thyroid Disease & Pregnancy (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) Also in Spanish

Older Adults

• Older Patients and Thyroid Disease (American Thyroid Association)
• Thyroid Problems (AGS Health in Aging Foundation)

Patient Handouts

• Antithyroglobulin antibody test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Fine needle aspiration of the thyroid (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Free T4 test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Radioactive iodine uptake (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Silent thyroiditis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Simple goiter (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Subacute thyroiditis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• T3 test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Thyroid gland removal (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Thyroid nodule (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Thyroid peroxidase antibody (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Thyroid storm (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Thyroid Tests (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) Also in Spanish
• TSH test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish