Discussion

The Krista Case
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Question 1
Triiodothyronine and Thyroxine, T3 and T4 respectively, are the hormones normally produced by the thyroid gland. Generally, these hormones increase the body metabolic rate which as a result leads to a rise in body temperature (Garcia-Reyero, 2017). In order to sustain this, more oxygen is required resulting in increased heart rate. The growth of muscles, bones, connective tissues and growth of the nervous system also requires thyroid hormone.
Question 2
An overactive thyroid causes the metabolic rate to rise above normal. This causes a rise in body temperature, hence the sweating and increase in heart rate. Since her calorie intake doesn’t increase, it results in weight loss. The increased metabolism requires more oxygen hence the increased heart rate.
Question 3
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, TSH, stimulates the thyroid gland to discharge its hormones, but it’s not produced by the thyroid. It is discharged by the anterior pituitary gland (Neuman et al., 2015).
Question 4
TSH secretion is regulated by the anterior pituitary gland responding to hormone levels. If the hormone levels are low, the gland increases the TSH secretion. Hypothalamus helps to detect the levels of the hormone and if they are low it increases the secretion of a thyrotrophic-releasing hormone (TRH) which increases TSH secretion. High levels of the TSH hormone have the opposite effect.
Question 5
The antibodies make the thyroid gland discharge thyroid hormone despite TSH being absent.

Question 6
Her thyroid hormone level is elevated hence restraining TSH secretion. This results in low TSH. However, the antibodies as a result of Grave’s disease stimulate the production of a lot of thyroid hormone despite her low TSH level.
Question 7
In hypothyroidism, the thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough levels of thyroid hormone. This low level leads to increased TSH secretion (Neuman et al., 2015). In this case, however, the thyroid gland does not respond to increased TSH. Hence her TSH levels would be high while her thyroid hormones remain low
Question 8
The Thyroid gland assimilates iodine in order to secrete hormones whereas other glands and tissues don’t assimilate iodine. Hence, they are unaffected by the radioactivity.
References
Garcia-Reyero, N. (2017). The clandestine organs of the endocrine system. General and Comparative Endocrinology, 257264-271.
Neuman, H., Debelius, J. W., Knight, R., & Koren, O. (2015). Microbial endocrinology: the interplay between the microbiota and the endocrine system. FEMS Microbiology Reviews, 39(4), 509-521.