What is the disease caused by swelling below the Adam's apple?

When boys enter puberty, they will develop secondary sexual characteristics. In addition to growing beards, their Adam's apple will also gradually grow larger, and finally it will completely protrude and look very obvious. This is not a disease, but a natural law of development, unless men do not secrete male hormones. Then sometimes men find that their Adam's apple begins to swell. What is this disease?

Thyroiditis is a type of heterogeneous disease involving the thyroid gland caused by various reasons. The clinical manifestations and prognosis vary greatly depending on the cause. The thyroid function may be normal, hyperactive, or hypoactive. Sometimes all three functional abnormalities may occur during the course of the disease, and some patients eventually develop permanent hypothyroidism. According to the course of the disease, it is divided into acute (purulent), subacute (non-purulent), and chronic. According to the cause, it is divided into infectious, autoimmune, and radiation thyroiditis. Among them, autoimmune thyroiditis is the most common, and it can be divided into Hashimoto's thyroiditis (i.e. chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis), atrophic thyroiditis, painless thyroiditis, and postpartum thyroiditis. The following mainly discusses several common types of thyroiditis.

Causes

Autoimmunity, viral infection, bacterial infection, fungal infection, chronic sclerosis, radiation damage, granuloma, drugs, trauma and other causes are all related to the onset of thyroiditis. Bacterial infections such as Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, and Pneumococcus can cause acute thyroiditis. Thyroid virus infections such as Coxsackie virus, mumps virus, influenza virus, and adenovirus infection are considered to be the cause of subacute thyroiditis, and can also occur after non-viral infections (such as Q fever or malaria). In addition, genetic susceptibility and environmental factors are also related to the onset of autoimmune thyroid.

Clinical manifestations

1. Hashimoto's thyroiditis

That is chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, the peak age is 30 to 50 years old, and the incidence rate in women is 15 to 20 times that of men. The onset is slow, and when the disease occurs, there is often enlarged thyroid gland, hard texture, nodular surface, clear boundaries, often with pharyngeal discomfort or mild dysphagia, and some patients may have symptoms of compression. There is often no special feeling in the early stage, and the thyroid function may be normal. A small number of patients may have short-term hyperthyroidism in the early stage, and most cases have hypothyroidism when they are discovered. Patients often show fear of cold, edema, fatigue, dry skin, abdominal distension, constipation, irregular menstruation, decreased libido, etc. A small number of patients may have thyroid-related eye diseases. Some patients may present with coexistence of Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Graves' disease, clinically manifested by alternating symptoms of hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism.

2. Subacute thyroiditis

This disease is self-limiting and is the most common thyroid pain disease. It is common in middle-aged women aged 30 to 50. The typical manifestation is severe thyroid pain, which usually starts on one side of the thyroid gland and quickly radiates to other parts of the gland, the ear root and the jaw. It is often accompanied by general discomfort, fatigue, muscle pain, and fever. It reaches its peak within 3 to 4 days after the onset of the disease and subsides within 1 week. There are also many patients with slow onset, more than 1 to 2 weeks, and the condition fluctuates for 3 to 6 weeks. After improvement, there may be multiple relapses within a few months. The thyroid gland may increase in size by 2 to 3 times or more than normal, and it is obviously tender when touched. Within one week after the onset of the disease, about half of the patients will have symptoms of hyperthyroidism, such as excitement, heat intolerance, palpitations, tremors and sweating. These symptoms are caused by excessive release of thyroid hormone from the thyroid gland during acute inflammation. During the course of disease regression, a small number of patients may experience swelling, constipation, fear of cold, drowsiness and other symptoms of hypothyroidism, but these symptoms do not last long and eventually the thyroid function returns to normal.

3. Painless thyroiditis

The disease can occur at any age, but is more common in women aged 30 to 50. Typically, changes in thyroid function are divided into three stages: thyroid toxicity, hypothyroidism, and recovery. The thyroid toxicity stage is characterized by sudden onset of neurasthenia, heat intolerance, tachycardia, weight loss, etc. In some cases, because the initial thyroid toxicity is not obvious, hypothyroidism is the clinical manifestation. The hypothyroidism stage lasts for 2 to 9 months and then gradually returns to normal. Some patients have persistent hypothyroidism, and 10% to 15% of patients may relapse after 10 years. About half of the patients have mild diffuse enlargement of the thyroid gland, which is hard in texture, without nodules, pain, or tenderness.