Overview
Thyroid disease is extremely notorious to diagnose since the symptoms aren’t always very prevalent. Most patients don’t experience the symptoms until the disease has progressed to an advanced stage. Hence, if you do notice something amiss with your body, don’t take the symptoms for granted.
How is Thyroid Disease Diagnosed?
The diagnosis of any thyroid disease starts with a standard doctor’s appointment. You can consult your doctor, citing the symptoms you are experiencing.
Your doctor will take note of the symptoms and then enquire about your medical history and your family’s medical history. Besides that, they will also prescribe a series of tests, including blood tests and imaging tests.
Blood tests
There are multiple blood tests prescribed to confirm a diagnosis of thyroid disease. Your doctor will prescribe blood tests to monitor the levels of:
- Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)
- Thyroxine or T4
- Free thyroxine or FT4
- Triiodothyronine or T3
- Free Triiodothyronine or FT3
Besides these, blood tests for thyroid antibodies, calcitonin and thyroglobulin might also help with the diagnosis.
Imaging tests
If there are physical differences in the appearance of your thyroid, for example, swelling around the neck region, your doctor will prescribe imaging tests to evaluate the reason.
Ultrasound is the most common imaging technique that takes around 20-30 minutes to determine what’s wrong with the thyroid gland.
Also, your doctor might do a physical test to assess the thyroid gland by pressing and touching the thyroid gland to look for enlargements.
