Myxedema

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Myxedema (Greek myxa, “slime”; oidema, “swelling”), deficiency disease caused by insufficient or lack of production of hormone by the thyroid gland. Patients with myxedema complain of fatigue, lethargy, sleepiness, poor tolerance to cold, mental sluggishness, a tendency to gain weight, and generalized aches and pains. Their faces often look puffy and waxy. Their skin is dry and coarse; their hair is coarse, dry, and brittle, and it tends to fall out easily. Often patients also lose the outer portion of their eyebrows. These and other symptoms are caused by a low metabolic rate resulting from a deficiency of the thyroid hormone that stimulates metabolism. Myxedema differs from cretinism in that it develops after birth and produces less severe cerebral inadequacy. The disease may occur in several members of a single family. Any condition that decreases the elaboration of thyroid gland hormone may bring on myxedema. The disease is treated by the administration of thyroxine, other thyroid extracts, or a synthetic preparation such as levothyroxine.

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