There’s a gland inside your neck, just under your Adam’s apple, that’s about the size and shape of a small butterfly. The hormones it releases control your metabolism — way more than just digestion, metabolism is how your body processes food into the energy it needs to sustain your life. The gland, of course, is your thyroid.
When thyroids over- or under-produce hormones, the resulting imbalance can lead to heart problems, cause symptoms like fatigue, and more. Ten million Americans, or 3 percent of the population, have a dysfunctional thyroid, and it’s estimated that another 14 million are undiagnosed. Incidence increases with age, and nearly 1 in 4 adults over age 65 exhibit some level of thyroid dysfunction. The majority of these patients have hypothyroidism — too little hormone production — while a small percentage suffer from hyperthyroidism (too much hormone production).
