Thyroid problems affect up to 10 percent of women and 3 percent of men. That helps explain why levothyroxine, a synthetically made thyroid hormone, is the most commonly prescribed medication in the U.S. The origins of this inexpensive daily pill can be traced back to that restless holiday night long ago.

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The thyroid. It’s a butterfly shaped gland that resides just below the Adam’s apple. Its main purpose is making essential hormones. “A thyroid hormone is important in the metabolism of basically every -- every cell, every tissue, every organ in the body,” says Dr. John Morris III, a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist.

Dr. Morris says treating thyroid complications kept the famous Mayo brothers quite busy a century ago. It’s the reason they recruited Edward Kendall, a young chemist obsessed with isolating thyroid compounds.

“And, actually, as the story goes, he came in on Christmas Eve in 1914 to do one additional round of purification, and to try to crystallize this newest preparation - the first time the hormone from the thyroid, that we now call thyroxin, had been purified,” Dr. Morris explains.

The discovery means millions of people now have this potentially lifesaving medication. Kendall also went on to help identify cortisone, earning him a Nobel Prize in 1950.

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Thyroid problems affect up to 10 percent of women and 3 percent of men. That helps explain why levothyroxine, a synthetically made thyroid hormone, is the most commonly prescribed medication in the U.S. The origins of this inexpensive daily pill can be traced back to that restless holiday night long ago.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

Journalists: A broadcast-quality video package (1:00) is in the downloads. Read the script.

The thyroid. It’s a butterfly shaped gland that resides just below the Adam’s apple. Its main purpose is making essential hormones. “A thyroid hormone is important in the metabolism of basically every -- every cell, every tissue, every organ in the body,” says Dr. John Morris III, a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist.

Dr. Morris says treating thyroid complications kept the famous Mayo brothers quite busy a century ago. It’s the reason they recruited Edward Kendall, a young chemist obsessed with isolating thyroid compounds.

“And, actually, as the story goes, he came in on Christmas Eve in 1914 to do one additional round of purification, and to try to crystallize this newest preparation - the first time the hormone from the thyroid, that we now call thyroxin, had been purified,” Dr. Morris explains.

The discovery means millions of people now have this potentially lifesaving medication. Kendall also went on to help identify cortisone, earning him a Nobel Prize in 1950.

The post Mayo Clinic Minute: Historic holiday discovery appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

ANSWER: Treatment for thyroid cancer usually involves removing all or part of the thyroid gland. In cases where thyroid cancer is advanced or aggressive, radioactive iodine treatment may be recommended after surgery to destroy any cancer cells that couldn’t be removed during surgery. For very small papillary thyroid cancers (less than 1 centimeter in diameter and completely confined to the thyroid on ultrasound examination), it may be reasonable to avoid surgery and monitor them periodically without treatment. This is termed “surveillance” and requires annual imaging of the thyroid with high-quality ultrasound. These small thyroid cancers are low risk for progression, especially in persons over 60.

The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland located in the midline of your neck, about halfway between your Adam’s apple and your breastbone. Your thyroid gland produces two main hormones: thyroxine, or T4, and triiodothyronine, or T3.

Thyroid hormones impact many cells within your body. They maintain the rate at which your body uses fats and carbohydrates, help control your body temperature, affect the working of your nervous system, and influence your heart rate. Your thyroid gland also produces calcitonin, a hormone that helps regulate the amount of calcium in your blood.

Thyroid cancer is not common in the U.S. When it is found, though, most cases can be cured. Surgery to remove all or most of the thyroid — a procedure called a thyroidectomy — is often the first step in treatment.

Thyroidectomy typically involves making an incision in the center of the neck to access the thyroid gland directly. In addition to removing the thyroid, the surgeon may remove lymph nodes near the thyroid gland if the cancer is known or suspected to be spreading outside the thyroid. Then, those lymph nodes will be checked for cancer cells. An ultrasound exam of the neck before surgery can help doctors determine if lymph node removal is necessary.

When thyroid cancer is found in its earliest stage, and the cancer is very small, it may only be necessary to remove one side, or lobe, of the thyroid, and leave the rest in place. In that situation, the thyroid still can function and produce hormones.

When the entire thyroid is removed, lifelong thyroid hormone therapy is required to replace the thyroid's natural hormones and regulate the body's metabolism. In addition to supplying the missing hormone the thyroid normally makes, this medication also suppresses the pituitary gland’s production of thyroid-stimulating hormone, or TSH. That’s useful, because there’s a possibility that high TSH levels could foster the growth of any remaining cancer cells.

If thyroid cancer is found in its later stages, if it’s a more aggressive form of cancer, or if it is cancer that has come back after earlier treatment, then radioactive iodine therapy may be recommended after the thyroid has been removed.

Radioactive iodine comes in a capsule or liquid that’s swallowed. The therapy works because thyroid cells naturally absorb iodine. So when the medicine is taken up by any remaining thyroid cells or thyroid cancer, the radioactivity destroys those cells. Because the thyroid is the primary site where iodine is absorbed by the body, there’s a low risk of harming other cells with this treatment. Afterward, the radioactive iodine leaves the body through urine.

If thyroid cancer is not cured with a combination of surgery and radioactive iodine therapy, then chemotherapy, external radiation therapy or other treatment may be necessary. Fortunately, surgery cures most cases of thyroid cancer, and the long-term outlook after the procedure is usually excellent. — Dr. John Morris III, Endocrinology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota

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ANSWER: Although you may find many claims about foods you should and shouldn’t eat to ensure thyroid health, in general there are no specific foods you must avoid if you have hypothyroidism — including kale and spinach. Eating a healthy, balanced diet and carefully taking your medication as prescribed by your health care provider will go a long way toward effectively managing hypothyroidism.

Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the front of your neck. Hypothyroidism, sometimes called underactive thyroid, is a condition in which your thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough of certain important hormones.

The hormones that the thyroid gland makes — triiodothyronine, or T3, and thyroxine, or T4 — have a large impact on your health, affecting all aspects of your metabolism. They maintain the rate at which your body uses fats and carbohydrates, help control your body temperature, influence your heart rate, and help regulate the production of proteins.

When your thyroid doesn’t make enough T3 and T4, the result is hypothyroidism. In most cases, hypothyroidism can be treated safely and effectively with the synthetic thyroid hormone levothyroxine, which replaces your body’s natural T3 and T4.

Concern surrounding the impact of spinach, kale and other similar vegetables — including broccoli, broccoli rabe, turnips, Brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage and cauliflower — on thyroid health is due to the effect they can have on the thyroid’s ability to absorb iodine. Having enough iodine in your diet is crucial for thyroid health because your thyroid gland needs iodine to make T3 and T4.

It’s true that eating a lot of these vegetables could limit your thyroid’s uptake of iodine. The amount you would need to eat to have that effect, however, is very large — much larger than most people would ever normally eat and certainly far more than would be included in a daily smoothie.

In addition, the effect of these vegetables is on the thyroid gland itself. That means for someone like you whose thyroid gland isn’t working properly, and who is taking thyroid hormone replacement medication, even if you ate these vegetables in large amounts, there wouldn’t be any impact on the amount of thyroid hormone in your body.

It is worthwhile to note, though, some foods, dietary supplements and medications may interfere with your body’s ability to process thyroid hormone replacement. For example, it can be hard for your body to absorb the medication if you take your tablets with meals that are high in fiber.

To help ensure that your body absorbs the medication properly, follow your health care provider’s directions on how to take it — typically on an empty stomach.

Also, to avoid problems with absorption, don’t take your thyroid hormone medication with foods that contain walnuts, soybean flour or cottonseed meal. Don’t take it at the same time as you take an iron supplement or a multivitamin that contains iron. It’s also important to avoid taking it with calcium supplements or antacids that contain aluminum or magnesium. Some ulcer medications and some cholesterol-lowering drugs also can interfere with thyroid hormone replacement. To avoid potential problems, eat these foods or use these products several hours before or after you take your thyroid medication.

If you’re concerned about your diet or about how other medications you take could have an effect on your thyroid medication, review your current medication list with your health care provider. A consult with a dietitian also can be useful if you have questions or concerns about what to include in a healthy, balanced diet. — Dr. John Morris III, Endocrinology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota

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Thyroid

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Watch: A Christmas Gift for Thyroid Patients

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