The thyroid gland is a butter-shaped endocrine gland which is responsible for producing thyroid hormones in our body. Thyroid hormone is carried through the blood to every tissue so that they work efficiently and correctly.

Hypothyroidism is the status where a normal human being can not produce enough thyroid hormone which effects the normal functioning of the body. Iodine deficiency is the most common cause for hypothyroidism and over 5% of the United Kingdom population is affected by the disease.

Symptoms

Since thyroid hormone is associated with each cell of our body, its deficiency can lead to malfunctioning of some of the most important organs like heart and brain. In hypothyroidism, patient's body process starts slowing down. For example, body makes less heat and less energy which result in feeling colder.

The patient also starts getting tired easily, becoming forgetful and depressed. Symptoms like less sweating, hair loss, mild weight gain, loss of appetite, frequent muscle cramps and joint aches are considered to be the common features of hypothyroidism.

Subliminal Hypothyroidism

Blood tests are generally carried out to measure the amount of thyroxine made and released by the thyroid gland. Thyroxine (T4) is produced by the thyroid gland and is circulated to the different parts of the body through blood. During its circulation, most of the thyroxin is converted into different biochemical form called triiodothyronine (T3). It has a capability to stimulate the cells four times than the normal thyroxin.

A normal blood test will give us an exact measure of T4 cells in the body but we can not measure the amount of T3 cells which are being converted during the process. As a result, we will only come to know the T4 cells measurement and not T3 cells which affects the actual result. Hence, a person with hypothyroidism can be detected as a normal person due to the inexact result.

This phenomenon is termed as Subliminal Hypothyroidism. There are many physical symptoms which can suggest the presence of such kind of hypothyroidism. The Achilles tendon reflex, basal body temperature and serum cholesterol can give sufficient diagnostic information for getting a better view about the disease.

A low basal body is generally accepted as the best symptom for the subliminal hypothyroidism. A low basal patient will always have body temperature below the normal person (98.6 degree Fahrenheit). Usually, patients with subliminal hypothyroidism never reach 98.0 degrees unless they have fever. The only way to recover from this condition is to get the relevant diagnostic information from recognized physician.