There are approximately almost 20 times more women than men who are thought to be sufferers of thyroid symptoms. It is also more common for older people to develop thyroid conditions. In the UK at this time there are probably more than half a million women and around 25 - 30 thousand male thyroid condition sufferers. In the more populous US the numbers are naturally higher and it is thought that there could be as many as 20 million suffering the symptoms of thyroid problems, and of these as many as 65 percent may as yet be undiagnosed.

Indeed thyroid symptoms as so many and various sufferers can remain either undiagnosed or mis-diagnosed for many years. Without diagnoses their hormonal imbalance may go unrecognised and their chronic thyroid symptoms put down to other causes. This can have a devastating effect on a sufferers life. In extreme cases some of the symptoms of thyroid problems have even led to people being committed to mental health institutions, for they can truly feel and act as if they are going mad, or so depressed as to be suicidal.

Thyroid disease is evidently a monumental problem and anyone who has found themselves persistently tired, gaining weight unexpectedly, looking puffy and bloated, feeling down, lacking energy, suffering anxiety, losing their hair, feeling weak and listless, having achy joints and muscles, finding it hard to concentrate, suffering prolonged menstrual cycles, or having trouble conceiving (or any combination of these as well as many other potential thyroid symptoms) should really ask themselves: "Could my health problems be caused by my thyroid?"

Sadly it cannot always be easy to find out for sure if your thyroid is causing the symptoms that you are experiencing. This is because general medical knowledge about the thyroid is extremely limited. This complex and important gland, that hold sway over so many vital body functions is given only short shrift in medical studies, and as part of the 'endocrine system' it falls to the relatively few Endocrinologist specialists to be the font of knowledge about the diseases of the thyroid. Even more sadly, the state of knowledge about how the endocrine system works and just what might impact on it is still very much a work in progress and finding an open minded and truly informed endocrine specialist is potentially a very rare possibility.

Those thyroid sufferers who have made headway in terms of dealing with their thyroid condition have often done so by swimming against the tide of typical medical authority, and as far as is possible, making themselves an expert on the thyroid through copious research and study. Many thyroid symptom sufferers have finally achieved some relief from their condition through a combination of self-study and trial and error!

There are certainly some recognized conditions that lead to the dysfunction of the thyroid gland. For example on a worldwide scale the simple deficiency of iodine in the diet is still the greatest cause of the symptoms of thyroid problems. Lack of iodine interferes with the efficient function of the thyroid gland and leads to hypothyroidism, or under-active thyroid.

However there are also other diseases such as Hashimotos disease, an auto-immune condition that causes the bodies own defenses to attack the thyroid and cause inflammation resulting in under-activity that an also lead to hypo thyroid symptoms. Therefore a major physical signs of thyroid condition in the case of Hashimotos inflamation is the appearance of the swelling or goiter. Alternately the thyroid can become atrophied, or shrunken and diminished, hence under-active through the condition recognized as myoedema.

Thyroid activity can also be adversely affected by chemical factors that occur in certain foodstuffs and in some areas where these foods are regularly consumed more cases of thyroid symptoms can of course occur. These anti-thyroid elements, or goitrogens, are found in the brassica family of vegetables (includes cabbages, sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, swedes, turnips), lima beans, bamboo shoots and also in staple items in some cultures such as cassava, maize and sweet potatoes.

The other side of the coin with respect to the symptoms of thyroid problems is when the gland is over-active. In the event of hyperthyroid symptoms sufferers can become excruciatingly thin, and suffer terrible anxiety. Perhaps the most recognized physical symptom is bulging eyes. The best known condition that results in hyper thyroidism is Graves Disease. One of the key problems with certain forms of hyper thyroid treatments is that they can, themselves, lead to the causation of hypo thyroiditis (such as may be inevitable if, say, the over-active thyroid gland is partially or wholly removed by surgery).

What is certain, is that if you should suspect that persistent and undiagnosed health conditions might be thyroid symptoms you should,in the first instance, refer to your MD, GP or professional medical adviser, with a view to obtaining all the necessary blood tests and any other diagnostic procedures on offer. However if the results are inconclusive or unhelpful do not give up. You should continue to investigate hyperthyroid symptoms or hypo thyroid, whichever seems most likely and seek out self-help communities and/or consider trying a quality thyroid supplement to see if some relief and improvement can be gained. Many sufferers have transformed their lives by becoming their own thyroid symptoms expert!