PATHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Iodine is one of the main building blocks of both hormones. Our bodies can’t produce this trace element, so we need to get enough of it in our diet. Iodine is absorbed into our bloodstream from food in our bowel. It is then carried to the thyroid gland, where it is eventually used to make thyroid hormones.

Detailed explanation-2: -Its correct functioning depends on a good supply of iodine from the diet. Cells producing thyroid hormones are very specialised in extracting and absorbing iodine from the blood and incorporating it into the thyroid hormones.

Detailed explanation-3: -The main hormones produced by the thyroid gland are thyroxine or tetraiodothyronine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3).

Detailed explanation-4: -Apart from the essential trace element iodine, which is the central constituent of thyroid hormones, a second essential trace element, selenium, is required for appropriate thyroid hormone synthesis, activation and metabolism.

Detailed explanation-5: -Your thyroid also needs adequate amounts of iodine, a substance you get from the food you eat, to create T4 and T3. This hormone chain reaction is regulated by a feedback loop so that when the levels of T3 and T4 increase, they prevent the release of TRH (and thus TSH).