Written By: Sandhya Raghavan | Updated: June 2, 2017, 10:48 AM
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The thyroid gland may be small, but it sure is a significant part of your endocrine system. This humble organ called the Master Gland controls your metabolism, breathing, muscle strength, appetite, heart health and reproductive system. Dr Pradeep Gadge, leading dialectologist from Gadge’s Diabetes Centre shares seven amazing facts about this important organ.
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The thyroid gland is shaped like a butterfly. The two wings of the butterfly are the left and right thyroid lobes which go around the trachea.
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It helps you regulate your body temperature. When the thyroid gland secretes too much hormone, your body temperature rises.
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It is weighs only an ounce (28gm). That’s approximately how much a slice of bread weighs!
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Your thyroid gland collects all the iodine from the food you eat to convert them into thyroid hormones: thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). So be sure to eat a lot of iodine-rich food like cheese, potatoes, fish and eggs.
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Your thyroid gland reports to its bosses, the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus. It’s known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis. When the big boss hypothalamus senses low levels of thyroid hormone, it instructs the pituitary to release thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TSH). That in turn, causes the thyroid to produce thyroid hormone till its levels normalise.
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For a light-weight organ, the thyroid sure has a lot of work to do. Every cell in your body depends upon your thyroid gland for metabolism!
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The thyroid gland originally develops at the back of the tongue, and it migrated to the front at the time of birth. Sometimes, when it fails to migrate properly, it may end up high in the neck or stay at the back of the tongue. Sometimes, it can even land up in the chest!
