Wednesday,May 10, 2023 Mothers have two biggest anxieties: the child is "short" and the child is "stupid"!
For most normal children, height and intelligence are basically destined by nature, and a small part can have a little effect through exercise and nutrition. Most of this little effect can be satisfied with a normal and balanced diet, and there is no need to take additional health care products at all.
Unless....you are sick!
For example, the hypothyroidism I am going to talk about today is a disease that affects height and intelligence!
There is an organ in our neck called the thyroid. Many people have heard of this term, but few people know what the thyroid gland is for. In fact, the thyroid is the most important endocrine organ in the human body. It can produce various hormones, which participate in the metabolic regulation of the whole body. We maintain body temperature and maintain normal growth and development, all rely on the regulation of thyroid hormones.
And for children and infants, hypothyroidism is even more terrifying! why? Because hypothyroidism may be asymptomatic.
Especially newborns, sometimes even hypothyroidism, but because the mother's residual thyroid can maintain a supply for a period of time, so that the child will not have any symptoms, and the growth and development are normal.
In this case, if we do not check the thyroid function, we will miss the opportunity for treatment! For example, if it affects a child's intelligence, it will be regretted for life.
So, how do we detect hypothyroidism and treat it in time? We have to talk about the diagnosis and screening of hypothyroidism.
At present, most countries, including China, have newborn screening for hypothyroidism. I believe that many mothers have the impression that newborns have a heel blood test.
One of the heel blood tests is the screening for hypothyroidism. The screening methods may be slightly different in different places. More often, TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) is checked. Generally speaking, if the thyroid hormone is insufficient, TSH will rise. high.
If the heel blood is abnormal after the child is born, you will receive a text message saying that your result is positive and ask you to go back to the hospital for recheck.
During the recheck, it may be necessary to retest thyroid function or do some imaging tests to confirm the type of hypothyroidism.
Because of the existence of newborn screening, most children can be treated in infancy, and neonatal hypothyroidism is not so terrible.
However, hypothyroidism may not always appear in the neonatal period, but also in children and adolescents.
This type of hypothyroidism is mostly caused by autoimmune diseases. Possible symptoms include short stature or edema and obesity, poor academic performance, and abnormal pubertal development, such as precocious puberty. There are also sluggishness, lethargy, fear of cold, dry skin and so on.
How to diagnose hypothyroidism? Generally, it depends on the level of TSH and T4:
Elevated TSH, decreased free T4: belongs to primary hypothyroidism.
Elevated TSH, normal free T4: subclinical hypothyroidism
Normal or low serum TSH, low free T4: belongs to central hypothyroidism
Thyroid powder can promote growth and development
The growth-promoting effect of thyroid powder is most obvious in infancy, with the greatest impact in the first four months of life. It mainly promotes the growth and development of bones, brain and reproductive organs. Without thyroid powder, the GH of the pituitary gland cannot function. Moreover, when thyroid powder is deficient, the production and secretion of GH by the pituitary gland also decreases. So congenital or childhood lack of thyroid powder, causing cretinism. Cretinism patients have stagnant bone growth and short stature, the length ratio of the upper and lower body is abnormal, and the proportion of the upper body exceeds that of normal people. And because of nerve cell dendrites, axons, myelin sheath and glial cell growth disorder, brain hypoplasia and mental retardation. Their sexual organs also cannot mature. Patients must supplement thyroid powder about three months after birth, later than this period, the treatment is often ineffective.
