What is Hashimoto's Disease?
Hashimoto’s disease is a problem with thyroid gland located in your neck. The thyroid glands are responsible to make hormones in your body that control how you body should use energy. When you are suffering from Hashimoto’s disease, your immune system begins to attack your thyroid gland causing it to become swollen and irritated. When such attack occurs in your body the thyroid is unable to make hormones in the body, as it should.

Alternative names for Hashimoto’s disease are:

Hashimoto's thyroiditis; Struma lymphomatosa; Lymphadenoid goiter; chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis; autoimmune thyroiditis

What is the Thyroid Gland?
The thyroid gland is one of the endocrine glands, which prepare hormones to form physiological functions in your body. The thyroid glands manufacture thyroid hormone, which regulates the rate at which your body carries on its necessary functions such as growth and metabolism.

The thyroid gland is located in the center of the lower neck, below the larynx and just above your clavicles. The shape of thyroid is like a “bow tie”, having two halves a right lobe and the left lobe joined by an – isthmus.

What Causes Hashimoto's Disease?
Hashimoto's Disease is a common thyroid gland disorder that can occur at any age but is often found in middle-aged women. It is caused due to some reaction in your body immune system against thyroid gland. The disease is rather slow and takes months or even years for the condition to be detected. Hashimoto's Disease as said is most common in women and individuals with a family history of thyroid disease. Doctors have no clue as to what causes your immune system to attack your thyroid gland. Some believe that a virus or bacteria triggers hashimoto's disease or could be genetic flaw be involved.

Symptoms of Hashimoto's Disease?
The symptoms of Hashimoto's Disease could be:
As the thyroid gland may swell and when you have Hashimoto's disease you may have a feeling of fullness and tightness in your throat.
You may have a very trouble swallowing food or liquids.
You may find a swelling in the front of your neck. Or you may experience tiredness, forgetfulness, depression, coarse dry skin, weight gain and constipation.
However, people with Hashimoto's disease will have no symptoms and if blood test is done it may just show that thyroid hormones are out of order or balance.
Other possible symptom of Hashimoto’s Disease includes constipation, pale-dry skin, hoarse voice and an elevated blood cholesterol level. Without treatment, the symptoms gradually become more severe and your thyroid may become large.

Can Hashimoto's Disease be treated?
There is no permanent treatment for Hashimoto's disease and doctors can treat low thyroid function so you probably won’t have any long-term effects. Thyroid medicines can help replace the hormones that your thyroid gland makes but how long you need to take medicines will depend upon the results of blood tests.

Taking your thyroid medicine and regular blood tests to see how your thyroid gland is working can help prevent symptoms like tiredness, weight gain and constipation.