Congenital hypothyroidism

Congenital hypothyroidism is an endocrine disease. The ailment is characterized by a decrease in the function performed by the thyroid gland. Congenital hypothyroidism is diagnosed extremely rarely (one case of five thousand). The danger of this disease is due to the fact that the lack of hormones adversely affects the development of the nervous system and the psychomotor functions of children, inhibiting them.

Hypothyroidism in newborns develops in the womb. Girls are more likely to get sick than boys.

Hypothyroidism in a child can be characterized by complete or partial failure in the thyroid gland. The decrease in functions is due to the lack of its hormones: thyroxine, triiodothyronine. Thus, the born child has a pathology that affects negatively the normal development and functioning of his body.

Congenital hypothyroidism is characterized by various disorders in the functioning of the pituitary gland, the thyroid gland and the hypothalamus. Most cases of the development of the disease is primary.

Today, genetic infringements are considered as the cause of the disease. Most of all cases (about 80%) of the disease are sporadic in nature, in other words, it is not possible to establish any kind of hereditary transmission or communication with a particular population.

Congenital hypothyroidism is a much more rare form of the disease than the primary one. The disease is characterized by a violation in the structure of the "command center" - the pituitary gland, - which controls the thyroid gland.

Congenital hypothyroidism poses a serious danger to the life and health of children.

This is primarily due to the effect of a lack of hormones in the thyroid gland on the development of the spinal cord, brain, inner ear and other structures in the nervous system. It should be noted that after reaching a certain stage, the lack of working capacity becomes irreversible and can not be treated. Children with congenital hypothyroidism significantly lag behind in psychomotor and somatic development. The general picture in this case is called in practice cretinism. This condition is considered the most severe of all kinds of psychomotor underdevelopment.

As practice shows, some signs of congenital hypothyroidism can be detected already at birth. Some symptoms are manifested during the development of the child.

The main signs of the disease should include:

- Delayed delivery (more than forty weeks);

- signs of immaturity at birth, in spite of the "premature" pregnancy;

- the weight of the baby, exceeding 3500 grams;

- difficulty in healing the umbilical wound, prolonged postpartum jaundice;

- swelling of the face and pads on the back of the hands and feet;

- apathy; Rough low crying, weak sucking during feeding.

As a rule, inhibition in development manifests itself in the first few months of life. In this case, the patients noted the belated closing of the fontanelles and teething, brittle and dry hair.

Treatment of the disease is aimed at replenishing the thyroid hormone deficiency . For this, levothyroxine sodium is used. The structures of the medicament and natural thyroxine are identical. It should be noted that deficiency in the work or structure of the thyroid gland can not be completely cured. Therefore, substitution therapy is prescribed for life.

As a rule, the treatment begins in the second week of the baby's life. In some countries (for example, in Germany), therapy is recommended from the eighth to ninth day after birth.

To date, various analogs (commercial forms) of levothyroxine are being manufactured. Depending on the quantitative content of the active substance, a dosage is prescribed. If it is necessary to switch to an analogue or another form, this must be taken into account.