Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer

Hyperthyroidism

• means too much thyroid hormone
• affects 2.5 million people in the United States
• affects 2% of all women in the United States
• affects women 5 to 10 times more than men
• can cause infertility and miscarriage

Graves’ disease

• is the leading cause of hyperthyroidism
• is an autoimmune disease*

Hypothyroidism

• means too little thyroid hormone
• affects 5 million Americans
• affects women 10 times more than men
• affects 1 out of every 4,000 infants born
• can cause infertility and miscarriage

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis

• is the leading cause of hypothyroidism
• affects 1 out of 5 women over the age of 75
• is an autoimmune disease*
• is associated with a higher rate of miscarriage

Postpartum thyroiditis

• occurs in 5% – 9% of women after giving birth
• is usually temporary but can recur with future pregnancies

Thyroid nodules

• affect 4% – 7% of the population
• are benign 90% of the time
• are less likely to be cancerous in women

*Autoimmune diseases run in families and are 5 times more common in women than men.

Between one and two million Americans received radiation treatments in childhood or adolescence between 1920 and 1960. The most common reasons for these treatments were:

• enlarged thymus gland
• acne
• ringworm
• enlarged tonsils and adenoids
• various chest conditions

The risk factor for developing thyroid cancer if you had childhood radiation treatments is between 2% and 7% as compared to .004% in the general population.

There have been cases of side effects from radiation treatments (not radioactive iodine treatments) reported as long as 45 years after treatment.

Most physicians agree that the thyroid gland of these patients should be checked annually.

Some physicians rely solely on physical (manual) examination of patients treated as children with radiation. Others prefer to perform scans or ultrasounds for nodules too small to detect manually that might be cancerous.

A person treated as a child with radiation can request that their medical records be sent to them by writing the hospital or clinic where they had the treatments. Ask for a record of how much each dose of radiation was as well as how often and over what period of time treatments were given.

One of the more psychologically unpleasant and frustrating side effects that can occur with either hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism is hair loss. There is no way to predict which patients will experience hair loss and which will not. Similarly, there is no way to predict who will be severely affected and who will have only minimal hair loss.

Because each person is unique, responses to thyroid disease and treatment will vary. This can be disturbing to patients who have lost a great deal of hair and want to know exactly when this will stop and when their hair will be normal again.

Here are a few facts to remember if you experience hair loss because of hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism:

• Hair loss from thyroid disease is usually reversible with proper treatment of the thyroid condition.
• Typically hair loss does not immediately stop when the blood work becomes normal. Most people stop losing their hair and begin replacing lost hair a few months after the thyroid hormone levels become normal. In some cases, it can take longer.
• Stress can contribute to hair loss. Because of the nature of thyroid disease, it can have a direct impact on the psychological well-being of patients, particularly on the coping mechanisms that deal with stress. Unfortunately, as patients become more and more concerned about their hair loss, their stress levels increase, making the situation worse.
• It is advisable to take caution when considering chemical treatments of the hair-for example, coloring or permanent waves. If at all possible, avoid such treatments until the hair loss has stopped.
• Cutting the hair shorter, using moisturizing and conditioning hair products, and avoiding back combing are other methods to decrease stress on the hair.

The most important things you can do to minimize further hair loss are to faithfully take prescribed thyroid medications and to be calm and patient.