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Thyroid Cancer And Risk Factors: A Closer Look At The Causes

Thyroid cancer may not have a cause which could be pinpointed. However, risk factors are helpful enough to let you know if you are susceptible to acquiring the thyroid disorder.

Almost all thyroid problems have no causes to present.  This is the main reason why the disorder is hard to detect for a lot of individuals.  Sometimes, even physicians or doctors do not have the capability to determine which type of thyroid problem is present.  If this fact is hard to accept for basic thyroid disorders, how much more for a graver situation called thyroid cancer?

Yes, thyroid cancer also has no causes which we could blame of.  It may just spread in the body without as even noticing it.  This is because the thyroid gland is too small that even if a lump forms in the area, we may not look at it as a disease at all.  Don’t despair though because even if there are no causes present, risk factors are available.  This will help us determine one’s susceptibility to the disease.

Thyroid cancer risk factors

The increase in the occurrence of thyroid cancer in one’s body may be brought about by several risk factors.  The most common examples are:

·         Radiation.  If you are exposed to extreme levels of radiation, the more you will develop papillary or follicular thyroid cancer.  There is a basis for this statement.  Between the 1920’s and 1950’s, doctors made use of high doses of x-rays to treat certain disorders on the face and the neck including those of acne and tonsillitis.  Because of this, it was found out that some patients become susceptible to thyroid cancer.

·         Family’s medical history.  The development of thyroid cancer and any other cancer type for that matter may be attributable to genetics.  The medullary thyroid cancer is one great example of this fact. This thyroid cancer type is usually caused by a change in a gene more popularly known as RET.  The said altered gene may be transmitted from a parent down to a child.

·         Gender.  Women are said to be more susceptible to develop thyroid cancer more than men do.  In fact in the US, the number of women with the disease is twice to thrice the number of men with thyroid cancer.

·         Age.  People affected by thyroid cancer are more usually more than 40 years old.  Anaplastic thyroid cancer patients have ages which start from 65 years old.

·         Lack of iodine.  It has always been stressed that iodine is very vital for a person’s thyroid health.  If you don’t have enough iodine in your diet, there is a great chance of acquiring thyroid cancer.  If you could not withstand eating the sources of iodine such as seaweeds, you may utilize iodized salt for cooking or preparing your meals.

Looking at these risk factors does not mean you have to be frightened with the likelihood of thyroid cancer.  You just have to be warned of the probabilities and percentages so that you may prepare yourself for future occurrences.  Thyroid risk factors should not be taken as a threat.  Rather, it should be regarded as your stepping stone to conquer the chances of having the thyroid disorder.

Tags: anaplastic thyroid cancer, medullary thyroid cancer, thyroid cancer, thyroid cancer risk factors

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