What is 'hyperthyroidism'?

What is 'hyperthyroidism'?

Hossein Jadvar (Doctor) gives expert video advice on: How is radioactive iodine therapy used in treatment of thyroid cancer?; What are the benefits and risks of radioactive iodine therapy?; Are there limitations to radioactive iodine therapy? and more...

‘Hyperthyroidism' is when the thyroid gland is hyper functioning - it's functioning too much. In other words, it's releasing the thyroid hormone, which is its product, too much into the bloodstream. Therefore, that can cause a number of problems in the metabolic pathways in the body, and there are certain signs and symptoms that are associated with that. Sometimes their thyroid gland can also be enlarged and you can actually feel it or see it, even in the anterior low aspect of the neck. These are all, again, pointing towards a hyper functioning thyroid gland.