A Simple Guide to Myxedema, Diagnosis, Treatment and Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Myxedema, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

The thyroid is the gland in the center of the neck
When a person is tired and fat, it is usually thyroid hormones she lack
She will feel cold and has a large protuberant tongue
There will slow movements and thoughts out front

There will also be enlargement of the thyroid gland
There will dry coarse skin and unusual weight gain
The most common cause is due to old age
Other include radioactive iodine taken in excess dosage

Some are due to excess removal of thyroid during surgical action
Or autoimmune response to thyroid inflammation
Treatment is usually with synthetic thyroxine
To be taken orally for life. No need for iodine.

-An original poem by Kenneth Kee

Hypothyroidism is also more common in women than in men.
Most of the cases of Hypothyroidism seen at the clinic are secondary Hypothyroidism due to lack of thyroid hormones either they were too aggressively treated for Hyperthyroidism or sometimes due to loss of thyroid hormones as part of aging.

The treatment for Hypothyroidism is thyroxine tablets of 50 to 100 mcg daily for life.
Most of the patients have no symptoms.
Hypothyroidism cases are more common than hyper thyroid cases.

Myxedema is a medical disorder marked by thickening and swelling of the skin caused by advanced hypothyroidism (insufficient thyroid hormone production) or deficiency of thyroxine.

Myxedema is different from hypothyroidism which denotes the presence of low level of thyroid hormones only.

Myxedema indicates the presence of edema of the skin and soft tissue caused by hypothyroidism.

Myxedema coma is a misnomer.

The patients with myxedema coma have no classical non-pitting edema or are not in a coma.

Myxedema is produced by severe hypothyroidism (under active thyroid) and happens more often when hypothyroidism is left untreated.

The doctor can order simple blood tests to determine whether the patient have hypothyroidism, which can result in myxedema.

Depending on the underlying cause, myxedema can be treated with thyroid replacement hormones.

These medicines are successful in removing the symptoms present in myxedema and hypothyroidism.

If the patient is given thyroid replacement medicines, the patient will probably need to take them for the rest of the life.

Left untreated, myxedema can develop dangerous or life-threatening complications.

Myxedema is almost always a consequence of hypothyroidism.

Primary causes:
Congenital:
a. Aplasia (no thyroid),
b. Hyperplasia (small thyroid),
c. Ectopic (not at normal location) thyroid gland
Autoimmune Thyroiditis (Hashimoto thyroiditis):
Inflammation causes insufficient production of thyroid hormones
Iodine deficiency can cause less production of thyroxine

Secondary Causes:
Radioactive iodine decreases secretion of thyroid hormones
Excess removal of thyroid gland causes reduced production of thyroid hormones.
Myxedema during or after pregnancy.

Symptoms of myxedema are thickening of the skin and other symptoms linked with hypothyroidism, such as:
Fatigue,
Weight gain,
Depression,
Dry skin

Diagnosis:
High TSH and low levels of T4 and T3 normally means Myxedema

Myxedema is most often managed by treating the underlying cause of hypothyroidism that led to the thickening and coarseness of the skin:
Hormone replacement with daily doses of thyroxine
Thyroxine dosage is adjusted until a normal TSH level
Life long treatment needed
Topical steroids help

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Myxedema
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
Chapter 5 Treatment
Chapter 6 Prognosis
Chapter 7 Congenital Hypothyroidism
Chapter 8 Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
Epilogue

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Feb 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005691585

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

A

Simple

Guide

To

Myxedema,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2022 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Myxedema, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat Myxedema)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiography account of my journey as a medical student to family doctor on my other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiography account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

My diagnosis and treatment capability has improved tremendously from my continued education.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Myxedema

(Chapter from A Simple Guide to Hypothyroidism 2015 by Kenneth Kee)

The thyroid is the gland in the center of the neck

When a person is tired and fat, it is usually thyroid hormones she lack

She will feel cold and has a large protuberant tongue

There will slow movements and thoughts out front

There will also be enlargement of the thyroid gland

There will dry coarse skin and unusual weight gain

The most common cause is due to old age

Other include radioactive iodine taken in excess dosage

Some are due to excess removal of thyroid during surgical action

Or autoimmune response to thyroid inflammation

Treatment is usually with synthetic thyroxine

To be taken orally for life. No need for iodine.

-An