Cold sensitivity to puberty: How thyroid disorders are affecting school-going girls in Kashmir

Srinagar: Six-year-old Mehak (name-changed) often complained of feeling cold even when the outside temperature was normal. Her parents dismissed it as a sign of general weakness. However, they grew anxious when she showed up with recurrent bouts of constipation.

“Her reports showed that she suffered from a thyroid disorder which triggered her cold sensitivity and constipation. We put her oral thyroxin. It replaces or provides more thyroid hormone, which is normally produced by the thyroid gland. In children, having enough thyroid hormone is important for normal mental and physical development,” the pediatrician treating her said.

Thyroid problems in Kashmir are often associated with adults when in reality, thyroid disorders are the most prevalent endocrine illness among school-age children especially females in the age group of (8-18 years).

A 2020 study titled, “MON-100 Prevalence of Goitre and Thyroid Disorders in Healthy School Children of Kashmir Valley. A Multistage Cross-Sectional Survey” was conducted by Sheri-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura.

The survey was done on 666 healthy school children of the valley in the age group of 6-18 years out of which 421 were girls and 245 were boys.

It was found that the overall prevalence of thyroid dysfunction (goiter and or abnormal Thyroid Function Test) among children was 7.8 percent with a prevalence of 9.3 percent in females and 5.3 percent in males.

Thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland that is located at the front of the neck and produces important hormones for our health and well-being. When our thyroid gland makes either too much or too little of some of the important hormones, it can lead to thyroid disease.

HOD, Pediatrics, District Hospital, Pulwama, Dr. Yasir Wani told The Kashmir Monitor that hormones produced by the thyroid gland can impact your child’s growth, development, energy metabolism, heart rate, puberty, and other elements of their overall health.

“An imbalance in the thyroid gland function can affect your child’s growth and health on multiple levels, hence it is important to be aware of the signs and try to treat it as early as possible,” he said.

Wani noted that “hypothyroidism” is a common endocrine disorder found in children. “It is a condition in which your child’s thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. A child with an underactive thyroid may experience fatigue, weight gain, constipation, decreased growth, irregular menstrual cycle, and a host of other issues.”

According to the doctor, hypothyroidism reflects poor functioning of the thyroid gland resulting in low circulatory thyroxin hormone in our body.

“Thyroxin hormone is very important in early brain development and overall physical growth. When babies are born with low Thyroxin (T3/T4), we call it Congenital Hypothyroidism. It’s very important to screen newborn babies for Congenital Hyperthyroidism (CH), as failure to do so can lead to mental retardation in babies,” Wani said.

He stressed it is advisable to do newborn screening at the time of discharge of a newborn baby to screen and diagnose CH along with other metabolic problems. “Once diagnosed and confirmed, we need to start hormone replacement therapy and manage the disease in time,” he said.

The treatment method for hypothyroidism is different for newborns and younger kids, he explained.

“Depending on the severity of the condition, the doctor may prescribe daily thyroid hormone therapy. Remember that it is important to get proper treatment for hypothyroidism to manage the symptoms. Untreated hypothyroidism may lead to problems with the nervous system or developmental delays,” Wani said.