Why is TSH elevated?

Hypothyroidism is a pathological condition in which the thyroid gland is unable to produce enough hormones. The disease occurs almost every tenth-twelfth person, and almost ninety percent of them are women.

The diagnosis of "hypothyroidism" can be based on the result of a blood test for hormones, where the level of TSH is elevated. The regulating function of the thyroid hormones causes a vivid (manifesting its manifestations) picture of the disease. Dysfunction of the thyroid gland leads to the fact that the level of TSH is elevated. Symptoms that cause this pathology are diverse:

- general symptoms (weakness, decreased appetite, fatigue, drowsiness);

- Dryness of the skin and their slight icterus, hoarseness of the voice, deterioration of hair and nails (fragility and dryness);

- changes from the nervous system (hearing loss, frequent depression and mood swings, inhibition of thought processes);

- changes in the cardiovascular system (reduction in heart rate, increase in cholesterol in the blood, increased values of diastolic blood pressure);

- On the part of the digestive system (violations of the kinetics of the gallbladder and intestinal motility);

- from the genital area (menstrual disorders, infertility, impaired erectile function in men).

With this disease, the hormone TSH is increased as a result of involvement of the gland tissues in the pathological process. There are several basic forms of hypothyroidism. One of them is hereditary, it is extremely rare. The most common is the primary hypothyroidism (when the damage to the gland tissues is primary, and it is this that determined the development of the disease).

Thus, TSH is elevated for autoimmune lesions of the gland tissues, with insufficient or excessive iodine intake, as well as mechanical damage to the organ (trauma and surgery). Equally important is the radioactive effect, in particular, which became relevant after the Chernobyl catastrophe (with selective accumulation of radioactive iodine by the gland ). Among the etiological factors of hypothyroidism, some medications are also taken. Thus, for example, the use of the drug "Mercazolil" may lead to the formation of functional changes in the level of the hormone.

Another type of disease - secondary hypothyroidism, also leads to the fact that TSH is elevated, but the root cause is not the pathology of the thyroid gland, but a different disease, more often an infectious or tumor nature, in the hypothalamic-pituitary system. In this case, the thyroid gland itself is not damaged and functional, only the regulatory sphere of the superior neurohumoral mechanisms is disturbed.

Treatment of hypothyroidism in the first place should be directed to the etiologic factor. In the event that exposure to it is impossible or unsuccessful, resort to the use of substitution therapy. If the level of TSH is elevated, this leads, as already mentioned, to a lack of a hormone. Substitution therapy involves replenishment of the missing hormone in the blood through the use of pharmaceuticals (synthetic analogues of the natural). Daily medication helps restore hormonal balance and eliminate symptoms of hypothyroidism.

With successful substitution therapy, hypothyroidism today does not complicate life for patients and does not pose a threat to their lives, in addition, the early onset of such therapy can lead to the complete elimination of the symptoms of the disease.