Thyroid Awareness Month: 2000
All you will need is:
A glass of water
A hand-held mirror
- Hold the mirror in your hand, focusing on the area of your neck just below the Adam's apple and immediately above the collarbone. Your thyroid gland is located in this area of your neck.
- While focusing on this area in the mirror, tip your head back.
- Take a drink of water and swallow.
- As you swallow, look at your neck. Check for any bulges or a protrusion in this area when you swallow. Reminder: Don't confuse the Adam's apple with the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is located further down on your neck, closer to the collarbone. You may want to repeat this process several times.
- If you do see any bulges or protrusions in this area, see your physician immediately. You may have an enlarged thyroid gland or a thyroid nodule and should be checked to determine whether cancer is present or if treatment for thyroid disease is needed.
The thyroid gland is a small, butterfly-shaped gland located in the neck just below the Adam's apple. Although relatively small, the thyroid gland influences the function of many of the body's most important organs, including the heart, brain, liver, kidneys and skin. Ensuring that the thyroid is healthy and functioning properly is important to the body's overall well-being.
Thyroid disease affects an estimated 13 million people of all ages, yet more than half remain undiagnosed. Undiagnosed thyroid disease could be putting the millions of Americans with elevated cholesterol levels at greater risk for heart disease and stroke. If the thyroid gland produces too little hormone and the body is not able to metabolize cholesterol sufficiently, cholesterol deposits in the arteries, blocking blood flow and increasing a patient's risk of heart disease. Because the thyroid gland regulates cholesterol levels, it is common for both hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid) and elevated cholesterol to co-exist.
Thats why the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) has launched a new public education initiative called Take Cholesterol by the Neck. The campaign urges Americans with high cholesterol (over 200 mg/dL) to understand the importance of diagnosing and treating secondary medical conditions, such as thyroid disease which can impact cholesterol levels. If patients have an underlying thyroid condition in addition to high cholesterol, the cholesterol problem will be difficult to control until normal thyroid function is restored. As a result, AACE recommends that cholesterol patients conduct the simple thyroid self-exam as the first step toward identifying the potential underlying problem.
Take the "Neck Check"™ to help determine whether or not you have an enlarged thyroid gland, which may require further examination or testing by an endocrinologist with a highly sensitive TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) test.
"Neck Check"™ may not be reproduced
Previous Thyroid Awareness Month Campaigns
- Thyroid Awareness Month 2007 How's Your Thyroid - Who needs to know?
- Thyroid Awareness Month 2006 A Thyroid Imbalance? Target Your Numbers
- Thyroid Awareness Month 2005 A Healthy Thyroid: You Make The Difference
- Thyroid Awareness Month 2004 Take Control of Your Health: Keep Your Thyroid in Balance
- Thyroid Awareness Month 2003 Thyroid Undercover Hiding in Plain Sight
- Thyroid Awareness Month 2002 The Necks Generation
- Thyroid Awareness Month 2001 The Necks Time is Now Think Thyroid
- Thyroid Awareness Month 2000 Take Cholesterol by the Neck
- Thyroid Awareness Month 1999 Thyroid: The Missing T in HRT
- Thyroid Awareness Month 1998 When the Blues Hit
- Thyroid Awareness Month 1997 1995 Not available on AACE Online