Already a member? Sign in
Welcome to Inspire!
What - Inspire is a place where you can connect with people who share your health concerns and find information and advice in groups sponsored by organizations you know and trust.
Why - As a member you can use Inspire to let friends and family know how you're doing, contact others who share your health concerns, receive personalized updates and information about participating in surveys and clinical trials, and more.
How - Joining Inspire is completely free and usually takes less than a minute. Join now!
Goiter support groups
Suggest a new group
Goiter
A goiter is an enlargement of the thyroid gland. It is not cancer.
There are different kinds of goiters. A simple goiter usually occurs when the thyroid gland is not able to produce enough thyroid hormone to meet the body's needs. The thyroid gland makes up for this by becoming larger, which usually overcomes mild deficiencies of thyroid hormone.
A simple goiter may be classified as either an endemic (colloid) goiter or a sporadic (nontoxic) goiter.
Endemic goiters occur within groups of people living in geographical areas with iodine-depleted soil, usually regions away from the sea coast. People in these communities might not get enough iodine in their diet (iodine is vital to the formation of thyroid hormone). The modern use of iodized table salt in the United States prevents this deficiency. However, inadequate iodine is still common in central Asia, the Andes region of South America, and central Africa.
In most cases of sporadic goiter the cause is unknown. Occasionally, certain medications such as lithium or aminoglutethimide can cause a nontoxic goiter.
Sources
MedlinePlus - Goiter