Want more iVillage? Sign up for our
Newsletters
Thyroid Cancer - What Increases Your Risk
SYMPTOMS & TREATMENTS
- Topic Overview
-
Health Tools
- Cause
- Symptoms
- What Happens
- What Increases Your Risk
- When To Call a Doctor
- Exams and Tests
- Treatment Overview
- Prevention
- Home Treatment
- Medications
- Surgery
- Other Treatment
- Other Places To Get Help
- Related Information
- References
- Credits
Risk factors for thyroid cancer include:
- A history of radiation treatments to the head, neck, or chest during childhood. Years ago, radiation was used to treat problems such as acne and fungal scalp infections and to shrink the tonsils and adenoids. Radiation exposure in adulthood does not carry the same risk.
- Exposure to high levels of radiation, such as occurred after the Chernobyl nuclear power accident in 1986. The risk is increased most for those who were younger than age 15 when they were exposed to radiation.
- A personal or family history of thyroid disease or thyroid cancer.
- A family history of conditions such as MEN (multiple endocrine neoplasia) 2a, MEN 2b, or FMTC (familial medullary thyroid carcinoma). These are caused by abnormal genes that greatly increase the risk of getting the medullary form of thyroid cancer.
- Other inherited medical conditions, such as Gardner's syndrome and familial polyposis.
- Age. Most cases of thyroid cancer are diagnosed in people who are between the ages of 25 and 65, although it can develop at any age.
- Being female. Thyroid cancer occurs more frequently in women than it does in men.
- Being Asian.
- A diet that is too low in iodine. This is not generally a problem in the United States and Canada, because iodine is added to salt and other foods.
| By: | Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: November 4, 2009 |
| Medical Review: | E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine Matthew I. Kim, MD - Endocrinology | |
© 1995-2011 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
Welcome to Care Circle, an exclusive tool to help you take care of yourself and your loved ones. Here's how it works:
- Create profiles for yourself and your loved ones.
- Select the topics and conditions that interest each of you.
- Get customized news updates, original content, tools, and expert advice for each Care Circle member delivered directly to your personalized homepage.
The information you input is strictly private; you choose who has access to your Care Circle.
How do I add myself or someone else to my care circle?
Click on "Add someone." Fill out the short profile. Choose an avatar. Select the topics and conditions that interest this person from the pulldown menu. You can select as many as you want, but you must choose at least one. Click on "Add Someone" again. You should start getting updates immediately.
How do I save content to my Care Circle?
Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab of the person for whom you're saving content. Put your cursor over the piece of content that you want to save; a disk icon will appear in the righthand corner. Click on the disk and the piece of content will be moved to a save folder.
How do I add additional topics and conditions for someone in my Care Circle?
Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab for the person whose preferences you'd like to update. Under "Add More to Follow," select additional topics and conditions.
How do I delete topics and conditions for someone in my Care Circle?
Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab for the person whose preferences you'd like to update. Under "Follows," scroll over the topic or condition you want to delete. An "X" should appear on the righthand side. Click on the "X" and the topic or condition will be deleted from the list.
To manage your Care Circle, Please
Sign In.
