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Learn about thyroid gland

Medullary Thyroid Cancer Forms

Medullary thyroid cancer, also called medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), is one of the least common types of thyroid cancer. There are 4 forms (or types) of medullary thyroid cancer: sporadic, MEN 2A-associated, MEN 2B-associated, and familial. This article will go over the 4 forms of medullary thyroid cancer, giving the basics of each type.

Medullary Thyroid Cancer Treatments

The main aspect of medullary thyroid cancer treatment is relatively straightforward: remove the thyroid. Regardless of the form of medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), a total thyroidectomy is performed to prevent the cancer from spreading to other parts of the thyroid gland.

Radioactive Iodine for Thyroid Cancer

Radioactive iodine therapy is used after a thyroidectomy to treat two types of thyroid cancer: papillary thyroid cancer and follicular thyroid cancer. Radioactive iodine is also called radioiodine remnant ablation, and you may hear your doctor refer to it by that name.

Thyroid Cancer Symptoms

Thyroid cancer doesn't always have symptoms, so it can be hard to detect and diagnose. In fact, some of the possible symptoms aren't actually caused by thyroid cancer itself. Instead, these symptoms can be caused by a thyroid nodule—and thyroid nodules aren't necessarily cancerous.

Hyperthyroidism Symptoms

When you have hyperthyroidism, your body is producing excessive amounts of the thyroid hormones T3 and T4. Since these hormones regulate your metabolism (how your body processes and uses energy), having too high a level will cause symptoms related to a high metabolism. In essence, hyperthyroidism speeds up some of your body's processes.

Hyperthyroidism Complications

Untreated hyperthyroidism can lead to serious complications, mainly related to the heart. When you have hyperthyroidism, your body is, in a way, running on overdrive all the time, and that can greatly affect your heart. Some possible heart-related complications of uncontrolled hyperthyroidism are:

Clinical Trials for Thyroid Gland Disorders

 

Hyperthyroidism: Overactivity of the Thyroid Gland

Hyperthyroidism is a large topic, so we have split it into four manageable sized portions. This page introduces hyperthyroidism. Subsequent pages are listed at the bottom which address more specific details of making the diagnosis of hyperthyroidism, the causes of hyperthyroidism, and different treatment options available for hyperthyroidism.

Hyperthyroidism: Overactivity of the Thyroid Gland

There are several causes of hyperthyroidism. Most often, the entire gland is overproducing thyroid hormone. This is called Graves' disease. Less commonly, a single nodule is responsible for the excess hormone secretion.

Hyperthyroidism: Overactivity of the Thyroid Gland

There are readily available and effective treatments for all common types of hyperthyroidism. Some of the symptoms of hyperthyroidism (such as tremor and palpitations, which are caused by excess thyroid hormone acting on the cardiac and nervous system) can be improved within a number of hours by medications called beta-blockers (eg, propranolol; Inderal).
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