The thyroid gland is one of the essential organs of our very complicated body. It has many functions and also so many things that can go wrong with it. Many thyroid disease symptoms can be mistaken for other conditions such as heart disease, depression, and dementia just to name a few. Therefore many times we go to our physician with symptoms and are wrongly diagnosed or it takes several attempts at diagnosis before it is found to be thyroid related.

The thyroid gland is a butterfly shaped organ at the base of the throat along the windpipe, just below the Adam’s apple. It is brownish red in color and weighs less than an ounce.

The main function of the thyroid gland is to produce thyroid hormones. These hormones are the T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxine).
Some of the functions of these two hormones are:

* the metabolic rate of the body
* maintenance of body weight
* ability to relax
* your sleep patterns Read the rest of this entry »