According to studies, thyroid disease can increase the risk of birth defects

Disorders of the thyroid gland have a major impact on health. Pregnant women need to be even more vigilant because thyroid disease can increase the risk of birth defects. Consider the following information to find out the mechanism and the types of defects that may occur.

Causes of thyroid disease during pregnancy

The thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland located in the neck.

The thyroid gland produces hormones that regulate heart rate, metabolic rate, body temperature, movement of food in the intestines, muscle contractions, and much more.

A person is said to have thyroid disease if his thyroid gland produces hormones in abnormal amounts. In general, thyroid disease is divided into the following two conditions:

1. Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism is characterized by the production of too little thyroid hormone.

More cases of birth defects are found in pregnant women who have this thyroid disease. Lack of hormones is thought to inhibit fetal development during pregnancy.

Hypothyroidism during pregnancy is usually caused by Hashimoto's disease.

This autoimmune disease causes the immune system to attack healthy thyroid tissue. The thyroid gland is damaged so that it cannot produce hormones optimally.

2. Hyperthyroidism

Hyperthyroidism is a condition when the thyroid gland produces too much hormone.

Hyperthyroidism during pregnancy is usually caused by Graves' disease. This disease is similar to Hashimoto's disease. The difference is, the immune system attacks actually triggers hormone production.

Launch page Hormone Health Network, hyperthyroidism can increase the risk of hypertension, premature birth, low birth weight, and miscarriage.

This thyroid disease also interferes with the overall development of the fetus, thereby increasing the risk of birth defects.

The effect of thyroid disease on the risk of birth defects

Estimates regarding the effect of thyroid disease on birth defects originate from a study conducted by Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1994-1999.

The study found as many as 18 percent of babies were born with severe defects in various parts of the body.

Some of the defects occur in the heart, kidneys and nervous system. In other babies, there are excess fingers, severe cleft lip, sunken chest, and deformed ears.

Not only that, as many as two babies died before birth.

Apart from babies with birth defects, study results are on page Children's Hospital of Philadelphia also found the impact of thyroid disease on brain development.

Some babies who are born have a low IQ and have impaired mental and motor development.

During the first three months of pregnancy, the fetus needs thyroid hormone from the mother's body to support the development of the brain and nervous system.

The thyroid gland of the new fetus can produce its own thyroid hormone at 12 weeks of gestation.

If the amount of thyroid hormone is too little, the fetus cannot develop optimally.

In addition, low thyroid hormones can also reduce the activity of various organs of the mother's body and of course slow down the process of fetal development.

Uncontrolled thyroid disease, especially not detected early in pregnancy, can gradually cause the fetus to fail to develop.

As a result, mothers who have thyroid disease are at risk of giving birth to babies with defects.

Disorders of the thyroid gland have a major impact on the health of the mother and the fetus.

Often times, this disease is not detected early in pregnancy because some of the symptoms resemble those of pregnancy itself.

The best way to prevent this is to do screening a prefix when planning a pregnancy.

Apart from being useful for early detection, examination screening will also help you determine how to solve it.