Abuse of thyroid surgery: be careful with calcium deficiency and many harms

Risk of contractures of the arms and respiratory muscles

Assoc˳ Prof˳ Dr˳ Ta Van Binh, former director of the National Hospital of Endocrinology, warned that many people abuse surgery thyroid nodules without considering its harmful consequences˳

Mr˳ Binh said that with thyroid cancer, surgery is required, and simple goiter cases should be treated medically˳ Thyroid surgery can cause hypoparathyroidism˳

When hypoparathyroidism, tests show: low blood calcium levels, urine calcium, low calcium blood phosphorus, low blood magnesium, low levels of PTH hormone (parathyroid hormone)˳ Electrocardiogram can detect arrhythmia…

According to Associate Professor Ta Van Binh, the diagnosis of hypoparathyroidism must be done at a specialized facility˳ The degree and frequency of symptoms usually depends on the degree of hypocalcemia˳

Patients often have the following manifestations: Numbness in the fingertips, lips and tongue; Pain in the muscles of the legs, arms, abdomen and face; Muscle weakness: Contractions of muscles, especially around the mouth, arms, and hands˳

Laryngeal spasms can cause severe breathing difficulties, requiring emergency treatment; Severe abdominal pain when menstruating; Patchy hair loss and thinning eyebrows; Dry skin, deformed and brittle nails; Headache, tiring; Some patients experience depression or epileptic-like convulsions…

The disease can cause complications due to low blood calcium such as: Tetani, the patient has a feeling of numbness in the lips, tongue, legs and hands˳ Then there is constriction of the fingers in the typical sign known as the “midwife’s hand”, which can be prolonged and very painful˳

Often accompanied by convulsions of the muscles of the face and larynx, sometimes causing severe shortness of breath, laryngeal hissing sound; Loss of consciousness, epileptic seizures; Tooth decay, osteoporosis; Arrhythmia and syncope…

There are also a number of other complications, which are often permanent and do not improve with calcium and vitamin D treatment, such as dwarfism, mental retardation, cataracts…

Organic calcium supplements to avoid stones and bone spurs

According to Assoc˳ Prof˳ Dr˳ Ta Van Binh, the condition of patients with calcium deficiency after thyroid surgery is common˳ Therefore, patients after thyroid surgery should apply a diet rich in calcium such as dairy, green vegetables, cereals… and low in phosphorus; Avoid soft drinks with phosphoric acid˳

The treatment lowers blood calcium Depending on factors such as whether the patient has symptoms or not, how severe or mild, general health …

The goal of treatment is to bring calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood back to normal˳ Temporary deficiency will be prescribed orally according to the doctor’s prescription˳

Calcium has two types, organic and inorganic˳ Inorganic calcium contains calcium calcium carbonate – taken from stone powder, shell powder, egg shells … must be absorbed by stomach acid, when taken orally, calcium carbonate gas is produced, so the side effects are bloating, abdominal distention, constipation˳ and easy to cause kidney residue or placental calcification, bone spurs, vertebral calcifications, urinary tract stones, gallstones, arteriosclerosis…

Most commonly used organic calcium dissolves without the help of stomach acid, so the side effects caused in the gastrointestinal tract will be reduced and depending on the type, there will be no side effects if used in the right dose˳

Is it too early for women after 30 to supplement calcium?

Osteoporosis is getting younger and younger under the impact of stressful modern life˳ However, osteoporosis is a preventable problem, we have a duty to protect bone health from an early age˳