BOISE, Idaho — Few parts of the body can cause as much physical disruption as the thyroid gland. The thyroid is easy to find — it's located in your neck just above your clavicle — but in diagnosis, it's often overlooked.
An estimated 20 million Americans have some form of thyroid disease, causing everything from weight changes to energy fluctuations, heart rate issues, and hair loss.
Find out how the Thyroid affects our day-to-day health
"The thyroid is involved in almost all of those," said Dr. Daniel Meltzer.
Meltzer said thyroid disorders are more common in women and peak after age 35.
"The good news is thyroid dysfunction is readily treatable, depending on if it's hyper or hypo," Meltzer explained.
As you might expect, hyper is overactive, and hypo is under functioning. Meltzer said medication can easily treat both conditions.
But first you have to know what ails you.
"The main thing is to declare your symptoms and ensure your doctor is adding a thyroid test, which is a simple blood test, to your standard workup if you're having any of these symptoms," Meltzer said.
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