Thyroid Blood Tests
Medical Author: Ruchi Mathur, M.D.
Medical Editor:
William C. Shiel Jr, MD, FACP, FACR
Introduction
The thyroid gland produces hormones that are essential for normal body metabolism.
Blood testing is now commonly available to determine the adequacy of the levels of
thyroid hormones. These blood tests can define whether the thyroid gland's hormone production is normal, overactive, or
underactive.
What are thyroid hormones?
Thyroid hormones are produced by the thyroid gland. This gland is located in the lower
part of the neck, below the Adam's apple. The gland wraps around the windpipe
(trachea) and has a shape that is similar to a butterfly - formed by two wings (lobes) and attached by a middle part (isthmus).
The thyroid gland uses iodine (mostly available from the
diet in foods such as seafood, bread, and salt) to produce thyroid hormones. The two most important
thyroid hormones are
thyroxine (T4)
and
triiodothyronine (T3), which account
for 99.9% and 0.1% of thyroid hormones present in the blood respectively.
However, the hormone with the most biological activity is T3. Once released from
the thyroid gland into the blood, a large amount of T4 is converted into T3 -
the active hormone that affects the metabolism of cells.
Next: Thyroid hormone regulation -- the chain of command »
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