As we age, we embrace various changes that we experience upon retirement. Along with the joys of aging comes the fact that the body changes, too, inside and out. So, it is necessary for an aging individual to employ in-home nursing care in Maryland, as well as to know his or her body and be aware of the typical changes that may take place.
One particular health issue seniors may develop is a thyroid disease, which affects the body’s metabolic rate. Two types of thyroid disease that commonly affect seniors are hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. Priority Health Care Systems will breakdown what you need to know about the two thyroid diseases to increase your knowledge and make the management and treatment easier for you to adapt.
Hyperthyroidism presents in many ways. Its symptoms sometimes mimic other health conditions, making it harder to be detected or diagnosed unless otherwise undergoing a series of screenings by professionals. In some cases, seniors may only present one or two symptoms of the disease. Also, various medications can cause a few of the same symptoms or, at times, it masks the signs of the disease.
Treating hyperthyroidism can be done through iodine or other medications that will help slow down hormone production. For older patients, it is not advisable to undergo removal of a part of the thyroid even though it’s sometimes successful.
On the other hand, hypothyroidism occurs more commonly to seniors, but it is very hardly recognizable because symptoms generally occur only over the course of time. Seniors who are engaged in home health agency in Maryland may only present one or two symptoms of hypothyroidism. Moreover, the occurrence of symptoms for this condition depends mainly on the deficiency of hormone levels in seniors’ body.
For the treatment of hypothyroidism, seniors will undergo medication that contains the synthetic thyroid hormone levothyroxine, thus, restoring the normal levels of hormones produced by the thyroid gland.
As a summary, seniors should be wary of their bodily changes, as well as the symptoms and risks of thyroid diseases. This is because if it is properly diagnosed and treated, seniors can have a good quality of life. It is one of the goals of mental health care in Maryland County, Maryland to be able to make seniors’ lives better.
