The role of thyroid health in female wellness and reproductive health
Too often, women experience mysterious symptoms without knowing the cause. Whether it’s weight gain or weight loss, hot flashes or feeling cold all the time, heavy periods or light ones, a racing heart or daily fatigue, it’s worth getting checked out by our San Antonio OBGYNs. Thyroid disorders can cause all of these symptoms and more, and may also affect your ability to have a baby. Thyroid health affects many systems in your body, including your reproductive organs, so don’t wait to find out what’s going on and get treatment if you need it.
What are the types of thyroid disorders?
Thyroid hormone is produced by the thyroid gland, and it plays a role in many body systems. Certain disorders can cause the thyroid gland to produce too much or too little hormone. Several types of thyroid disorders can affect women’s health and wellbeing, but the two most common are hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism.
- In hypothyroidism, the thyroid is underactive and doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormone. This can cause women to experience heavy periods as well as a slower metabolism that can lead to weight gain, feeling unnaturally cold, weakness and fatigue, joint or muscle pain, depression, and thinning hair, among other symptoms.
- With hyperthyroidism, the thyroid is overactive and produces too much hormone. This can cause a faster metabolism, leading to weight loss, a rapid heartbeat, nervousness, anxiety, sleep disruption, overheating, light periods and eye problems. It also increases the risk of osteoporosis in women.
Thankfully, effective treatments are available for these conditions that can relieve symptoms and protect women’s lifelong health.
Other, less common thyroid disorders can include thyroiditis, goiter, thyroid nodules, autoimmune thyroid disease, and thyroid cancer. Our San Antonio OBGYNs can evaluate your symptoms, provide the right testing to check your thyroid health, and provide targeted treatment if needed.
How does thyroid health affect fertility?
Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism affect roughly 2% to 4% of women of reproductive age, and both can both cause infertility in women. That’s because thyroid hormone plays an important role in ovulation, and lower or higher than normal levels of the hormone can cause a woman’s cycles to become irregular or stop altogether. Autoimmune thyroid disease can also cause infertility or a higher risk of miscarriage due to an increased level of thyroid antibodies.
Thyroid testing is recommended as part of the standard fertility workup for women experiencing infertility or recurrent miscarriage. If a thyroid problem is discovered, effective treatments are available to help women achieve pregnancy and have a healthy baby.
Get help for thyroid issues
If you are experiencing any symptoms of a thyroid disorder, we encourage you to make an appointment with one of our San Antonio OBGYNs. Protecting your thyroid health can have a big impact on your overall wellness, quality of life and fertility, so don’t wait to get the help you need. Contact us today to get started.
