Often overweight people, exhausting themselves with physical activity and diets, waste their efforts and time, not achieving the desired results. In such a situation, it’s time to check if there is a malfunction in the thyroid gland.
This important endocrine gland in the form of a butterfly weighing only about 50 g regulates the metabolism of our body, or in other words, metabolism, from the processes of anabolism (synthesis and construction) to catabolism (decay and destruction) of all biologically active substances.
Disorders of the thyroid gland can be manifested by its hyperfunction (hyperthyroidism) or hypofunction (hypothyroidism). Hyperthyroidism causes the excessive formation of thyroid hormones, provoking a “fire” of metabolism and, as a result, nervousness, irritability and painful thinness. Hypothyroidism, in contrast, is accompanied by insufficient production of thyroid hormones and causes a slowdown in all metabolic processes in the body, and lipid metabolism is primarily affected. The sad result is lethargy, drowsiness, apathy, decreased intelligence, overweight up to obesity and even infertility. Diagnosis of thyroid disease is based on laboratory studies of pituitary hormones, thyroid hormones and lipid status.
The path to a slim figure should begin not with the struggle with the investigation in the form of extra pounds, but with the search for the reasons for their accumulation. Up to 75% of cases of overweight are associated with malnutrition, but about a quarter of cases are problems of the endocrine system and metabolism. Therefore, before you take up the bar or turn to a miraculous diet, take tests and check the laboratory indicators of your body. Believe me, he will be immensely grateful to you for such a sure step towards health.
EXTRA WEIGHT AND DIABETES
Metabolic disorders and excess weight are closely interrelated. On the one hand, metabolic disorders are often accompanied by rapid weight gain, and on the other hand, extra pounds increase the risk of developing diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
With diabetes, carbohydrate metabolism in the body is disturbed. But if in the case of type 1 diabetes, the problem is associated with insufficient production of the hormone insulin that breaks down glucose, then with type 2 diabetes mellitus, insulin is formed in sufficient quantities. However, its effectiveness is extremely low – the insulin produced by the body does not cope with the processing of sugars from food. The reason for this anomaly lies in extra pounds of body fat, which affect the poor “performance” of insulin, or, as doctors say, lead to insulin resistance .
Type 2 diabetes develops gradually. Patients complain of thirst, frequent nightly urination, itching and other skin problems, fatigue, and visual impairment. But the symptoms of the disease appear only in 50% of cases, which is why it is extremely important to control the level of sugar in the blood and regularly undergo laboratory testing. The most effective test for detecting an increase in blood glucose is a glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) test . In contrast to direct glucose measurement, an analysis on HbA1c will reveal a violation of carbohydrate metabolism even in borderline cases, and regardless of the nature of the food immediately before the analysis.
Timely revealed diabetes will allow not only timely treatment of the disease itself, but also make it possible to prevent a huge number of complications and related diseases: diabetic foot, atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, visual impairment, etc. About 80% of people with type 2 diabetes are obese and overweight. In overweight patients, diabetes develops seven times more often than in individuals with normal body weight. These are the results of the WHO on medical monitoring of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus – the tandem of diseases of modern civilization. Attention to your own health, including the annual clinical and laboratory examination, will help you not to become another unit in these statistics.
Recommended Studies:
● Glycosylated hemoglobin ( HbA1c)
● Blood glucose
● insulin
● C-peptide