The thyroid gland can become a problem when it becomes underactive, overactive, or cancerous. You might be searching for a permanent solution if you suffer from thyroid conditions.
While treatments can help restore normal thyroid function, a complete cure might not be possible for some special thyroid cases. For example, you might still need to take medicine lifelong to maintain a normal thyroid state. Or you might be in remission but not wholly free from the disease after surgery and radioactive treatments.
Keep reading to learn more about the curative treatment for thyroid and if those are permanent remedies for your condition.
Classification of Thyroid Diseases
The thyroid gland is located in the neck and wrapped around the trachea. This butterfly-shaped gland helps to secrete hormones that maintain the body’s metabolic processes. These processes include regulating heart rate, body temperature, weight and blood pressure.
Thyroid disease is an umbrella term that implies a medical condition wherein the thyroid gland cannot function properly. The following are the common thyroid diseases:
Hyperthyroidism
The thyroid becomes overactive and makes too much of the thyroxine or tetraiodothyronine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) (thyroid hormone). It is also called thyrotoxicosis.
Hypothyroidism
The thyroid becomes underactive and does not produce enough T3 and T4. This condition can go on for years without a diagnosis, as symptoms vary among individuals.
Thyroid Cancer
Some of the thyroid cells become cancerous and need to get removed. In addition, delay in treatment can lead to other consequences that can harm overall health.
Can Thyroid Disease Be Cured?
The answer to this question is difficult to determine because while some people may need lifelong treatment, others may only require a cure.
All thyroid issues have a form of therapy, but some may require lifelong medical attention to maintain thyroid function.
For example, surgery and radioactive iodine treatments can cure most patients with thyroid cancer; however, the cure for cancer might cause hypothyroidism, requiring thyroid hormone replacement therapy.
Although treatments can restore the function of the thyroid gland in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, where the thyroid is attacked and destroyed by antibodies, the chances of relapse increase because the anti-thyroid antibodies often remain in the body. These antibodies are usually unaffected by treatments. Therefore, thyroid diseases are lifelong, but treatable conditions.
The HealthifyMe Note
Although treatments are available to fix thyroid function, you might need to see a doctor regularly to ensure it stays normal. In most cases, the anti-thyroid antibodies remain in your body even after the disease is gone. It means you might need to take thyroid hormone replacement for life, or there is a chance the condition could come back.
Ways to Treat Thyroid
Here are some things to keep in mind about these treatments: they only control the level of thyroid hormones in your body and don’t cure the problem.
It’s like treating the symptoms rather than the disease. Talk to a doctor to get a treatment plan unique to your body’s natural processes that meet your individual needs.
Some ways to treat thyroid conditions are:
Antithyroid Drugs
Namely, methimazole and propylthiouracil are medications that stop your thyroid gland from overproducing hormones.
Thyroid Replacement Medication
It is a synthetic way to introduce thyroid hormones into your body. One such drug that gets commonly used here is known as levothyroxine.
Radioactive Iodine
It is a treatment that destroys your thyroid gland’s abnormal cells, preventing it from producing extremely high levels of hormones.
Beta-blockers
Beta-blockers are essential medications that don’t change the number of hormones secreted in your body but help control your symptoms.
Hypothyroidism Diet
One approach to treating Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is to put patients on an autoimmune Paleo diet. This restrictive diet is adequate to follow for one to six months, and you can modify it according to the patient’s unique allergies and sensitivities.
Dietary supplements like iodine, glutathione, selenium, vitamin D, and curcumin are also part of the treatment plan. A study shows that vitamin D is essential to maintaining thyroid function during treatment.
Regular Exercise
Before and after thyroid treatment, it is essential to exercise regularly. It could include brisk walking, dancing, swimming, yoga or any other activity. For example, many people have found that practising yoga has improved their thyroid health and helps to avoid relapse.
Surgery
Although it may be intimidating, surgery is a more lasting solution where your doctor removes your thyroid gland to prevent it from making too many hormones. However, one downside of this choice is that you will need to take thyroid replacement hormones for the rest of your life.
Conclusion
Although various practices can treat all thyroid diseases, this often requires lifelong medication to maintain a normal thyroid state. Sometimes there is a risk of relapse.
However, once diagnosed with thyroid disease, treatment is necessary to prevent the condition from deteriorating. While there is no guarantee of a complete cure, treatment is better than no medical help.
