THYROID (Gr. Ovpoea3i'is, shield-shaped, from Ovpeos, a large oblong shield, shaped like a door, Obpa, and eiSos, form)

This article appears in Volume V26, Page 905 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: THE-TOO

THYROID (Gr. Ovpoea3i'is, shield-shaped, from Ovpeos, a large oblong shield, shaped like a door, Obpa, and eiSos, form) , in anatomy, a term applied (I) to the largest of the cartilages of the larynx (see RESPIRATORY SYSTEM), (2) to one of two arteries which lie near the thyroid cartilage and gland (see ARTERIES), and (3) to a vascular ductless gland, which rests on the larynx and upper part of the trachea (see DUCTLESS GLANDS). The thyroid gland is used in

medicine

MEDICINE

in two forms. Thyroideum siccum is a light dull brown powder, prepared by drying the thyroid gland of a sheep. Its

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

constituent is a proteid known as thyreoglobulin, the active principle of which contains 9.3% of iodine and 0.5% of phosphorus, and is known as iodothyrin or thyroiodin. The dried gland easily becomes

damp

DAMP

and deteriorates. Liquor thyroidei is a

pink

PINK

turbid liquid made by macerating the fresh gland of a sheep with glycerin and phenol.
Thyroid gland administered to man increases the

pulse

PULSE

rate, causes increased and enfeebled cardiac beat and leads to increased metabolism, consequently excess of urea, uric acid and phosphates arc excreted in the urine; it therefore reduces the

body

BODY

weight. Glycosuria develops from the inability of the

body

BODY

to ingest glucose. Overdoses of thyroid cause rapid

pulse

PULSE

, headache and vomiting, together with diarrhoea and pruritus, emaciation and weakness. These symptoms are known as thyroidism.
Thyroid gland was introduced for the treatment of patients suffering from goitre, myxoedema and cretinism, in which diseases it has been remarkably successful, cretins growing rapidly under the thyroid treatment and developing intelligence. It has also been used in dwarfism, excessive obesity, psoriasis and scleroderma. When used in obesity an excess of nitrogenous food should be taken to balance the destruction of proteid. In certain forms of

insanity

INSANITY (from Lat. in, not, and sanus, sound)

melancholia

MELANCHOLIA

and climacteric insanities it has given good results. Full doses of thyroid are valuable in the prevention and relief of eclampsia. It should not be given to patients suffering from exophthalmic goitre, for which an

anti

ANTI, or CAMPA

-thyroid serum (antithyreoidin of Moebrus), which is the serum of thyroidectornized animals, has been introduced.
Rodagen is a white powder consisting of the dried milk of thyroidectomized goats, mixed with 50 A of milk sugar. In exophthalmic goitre this preparation causes a reduction of the swelling and of the pulse rate, and an increase of body weight.

End of Article: THYROID (Gr. Ovpoea3i'is, shield-shaped, from Ovpeos, a large oblong shield, shaped like a door, Obpa, and eiSos, form)

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