You may know Zoe Saldana for all her popular acting roles now, but as a little girl growing up in the Dominican Republic, her passion was ballet. Though she eventually gave up on learning that particular form of dance, her training was integral to her performances with the Faces theater group in Brooklyn. After her performance in a production of ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’, Zoe was recruited by a talent agency, and by 2000, she was acting in ‘Center Stage’.
Afterward, she had several roles in movies and television shows but her breakthrough role came in ‘Avatar’. Since then, she’s been involved in many highly recognized movie projects. While acting though, she was always aware that she was at risk for Hashimoto’s disease because it affected her mother, grandmother, and sisters. Still, she noted in an interview with ‘The Edit’ that she wasn’t prepared for her official diagnosis in her 20s. Zoe has been managing her disease with the help of her doctor and living a healthy lifestyle.
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What Is Hashimoto’s Disease?
Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the thyroid and affects the quantities of hormones the gland produces. The disease usually results in an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) but in some cases, it makes the thyroid gland overactive (hyperthyroidism). The effects of Hashimoto’s disease can be varied because the thyroid hormones control the way almost every organ in the body uses energy.
As a result, some of the common symptoms of the illness include fatigue, weight gain, constipation, dry skin, thinning hair, irregular menstrual cycles, and a slowed heart rate.
While doctors don’t have an exact number of people who are living with the illness, it’s believed to be one of the common causes of hypothyroidism, which affects approximately 5 in 100 Americans.
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Additionally, studies show that women are up to 10 times as likely to develop Hashimoto’s disease than men. If you’re already dealing with another autoimmune disease, you typically have a higher risk of having Hashimoto’s disease as well.
How The Disease Is Diagnosed
Before giving a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s disease, your doctor will first need to determine if there is a problem with your thyroid. To do this, they will discuss your symptoms and check if your thyroid is enlarged. If there are reasons for concern, they’ll recommend further tests.
First, you would do blood tests to check the level of certain thyroid hormones. With the thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) test, high levels of the hormone usually indicate that you’re dealing with hypothyroidism. This diagnosis can be confirmed with a Free T4 test.
If your doctor thinks you might have Hashimoto’s disease, they’ll recommend an antibody test. This test checks for antibodies to the protein thyroid peroxidase (TPO), as this is common for people with the illness.
In the event that the antibody test is negative, the doctor may go further to order an ultrasound of your thyroid. The ultrasound will give a more accurate picture of the size of your thyroid as well as any other abnormalities related to Hashimoto’s disease.
How Hashimoto’s Disease Is Treated
Since the disease is a chronic one, doctors focus on alleviating the symptoms. To this end, they will develop a program that tackles your hypothyroidism.
In some cases, the hormone levels are not low enough to require treatment so your doctor will only continue to monitor your levels until something needs to be done.
For those who need an intervention, the typical treatment is T-4 hormone replacement therapy, where you’re given a synthetic hormone that mimics the role of T-4.
This replacement hormone will break down to T-3 in the system and your body will operate as if it has a fully functional thyroid. While this is generally enough for many people with the disease, there are a few cases where T-3 replacement therapy is also needed to effectively regulate the body’s systems.
When you’re being treated, it’s likely that the dosage of your medication will be adjusted over time to ensure that it’s still working well. This means that your doctor will check your hormone levels regularly.
There can also be complications from Hashimoto’s disease if the treatment isn’t working properly so it’s common for doctors to perform other tests on your general health. A few of these complications include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, and heart failure.
It’s hard to say how common Hashimoto’s disease is, but it’s certain that most of those who have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism may have the autoimmune disease to blame. If you recognize any of the symptoms here, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor as soon as possible.
