What are the effects of hyperthyroidism in children?

Excess thyroid hormone increases metabolism and can cause weight loss, sweating, and a rapid heartbeat. It can also affect your child’s mood and ability to concentrate, making them nervous, irritable, and anxious. In infants, too much thyroid hormone can result in developmental delay.

What does hyperthyroidism look like in children?

An overactive thyroid gland can get big and it may look and feel like a lump in the throat, especially when the child swallows. When the thyroid gland releases too much hormone, this speeds up a child’s metabolism and causes problems such as anxiousness, weight loss and tremors.

How is hyperthyroidism treated in kids?

ATD therapy is usually recommended as the initial treatment for hyperthyroidism in children and adolescents. The most commonly used ATDs are carbimazole and its active metabolite, methimazole (MMI) and propylthiouracil (PTU).

What can trigger hyperthyroidism?

What causes hyperthyroidism?

• excess iodine, a key ingredient in T4 and T3.
• thyroiditis, or inflammation of the thyroid, which causes T4 and T3 to leak out of the gland.
• tumors of the ovaries or testes.
• benign tumors of the thyroid or pituitary gland.

What causes hypothyroidism in children in the UK?

One child in every 2-3,000 is born with hypothyroidism in the UK. It’s more common in girls. Films featuring young people with congenital hypothyroidism Hypothyroidism is most commonly caused by autoimmune thyroid disease. The most common form is Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

How is hyperthyroidism treated in children and adolescents?

Thyroid imaging may include thyroid ultrasound and/or a nuclear medicine study called thyroid scintigraphy to see if the thyroid is over- or underactive (thyroid uptake) as well as what part of the thyroid is overactive (thyroid scan). HOW IS HYPERTHYROIDISM TREATED?

Can a child have too much thyroid hormone?

The thyroid gland becomes over-active and produces too much thyroid hormone. There may be a family history of thyroid problems or other autoimmune disorders. It is also more common in people who smoke. Around 100 children under 15 get Graves’ disease in the UK and Ireland each year.

How often does overactive thyroid occur in children?

Hyperthyroidism (also known as overactive thyroid) occurs when the thyroid gland makes too much thyroid hormone (thyroxine). Hyperthyroidism is relatively rare in childhood, occurring in about 1 in 5000 children and adolescents.