the.com/thyroid
A butterfly-shaped tyrant in your neck deciding whether you sprint or stall.
means A butterfly-shaped gland in your neck that releases hormones controlling how fast your body burns energy.
from From Greek 'thyreoeides,' meaning 'shield-shaped' — from 'thyreos,' an oblong, door-shaped shield (itself from 'thyra,' a door). The early anatomists weren't naming the gland but the nearby cartilage it sat behind, which reminded them of that big shield; the name later migrated onto the gland itself.
- shape
- Named for a shield-shaped cartilage it sits beneath
- iodine appetite
- Hoards iodine to manufacture its hormones
- metabolism boss
- Sets the speed of nearly every cell
- goiter history
- Iodized salt nearly erased swollen necks worldwide
- tiny but mighty
- Weighs about an ounce, rules your energy
graves disease — autoimmune thyroid condition affecting ~3 million people in the us, causing hyperthyroidism
hashimoto thyroiditis — most common cause of hypothyroidism in iodine-sufficient regions, named after japanese physician hakaru hashimoto in 1912
three mile island — 1979 nuclear accident in pennsylvania that released radioactive iodine-131, affecting thyroid health in exposed populations