
The thyroid is an endocrine gland that produces two main hormones, T4 (tetra-iodothyronine or thyroxin) and T3 (triiodothyronine), which regulate the rate at which the body uses fat, protein and carbohydrates. Its operation is very powerful but extremely fragile and as leverage, a slight disorder of the thyroid gland can cause a chain of serious consequences. Thus, an overactive thyroid gland speeds up the metabolism, sometimes 60% to 100%.
The thyroid is far from working in isolation. The balance of thyroid metabolism is intimately linked to the couple hypothalamus-pituitary. For it is the hypothalamus that control the pituitary gland to produce hormone TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone for). In turn, TSH stimulates the thyroid hormone that it produces hormones. This explains why, in situations of hyperthyroidism, the TSH level is low because the pituitary gland tries to “calm down” the thyroid gland.
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