Thyroid panel
About the Test
Thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in your neck, just above your collarbone. It is one of your endocrine glands, which make hormones.The thyroid panel uses a blood sample to evaluate the functioning of the thyroid gland. A thyroid panel can help diagnose and monitor the treatment of thyroid disorders.
Abnormal thyroid function, such as underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) or overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism), can lead to a wide range of symptoms. By measuring levels of thyroid hormones in the blood, the thyroid panel can help diagnose thyroid disorders and disrupted thyroid function.
In a thyroid panel measures different types of thyroid hormones from a blood sample, including:
-
TSH - thyroid-stimulating hormone. TSH produced in the pituitary gland and regulates the balance of thyroid hormones – including T4 and T3 - in the bloodstream.It is the most accurate measure of thyroid activity.
-
T4 - free or total thyroxine. Is the major hormone made in your thyroid gland. Thyroid hormones are critical to brain development during infancy and for many essential body processes during adulthood.
-
T3 - free or total triiodothyronine. It plays an important role in the body's control of metabolism (the many processes that control the rate of activity in cells and tissues)
Purpose of the test
-
To diagnose an underactive or overactive thyroid gland
-
Can help diagnose thyroid disorders and disrupted thyroid function
-
To evaluate a goiter, which is enlargement of the thyroid gland
-
Screen for an underactive thyroid gland in newborn babies
-
Used to monitor the treatment of hyperthyroidism and assess patients receiving levothyroxine therapy
