Myxedema: The Later-Developing Severe Type of Hypothyroidism

The year-end and year-opening holidays that just passed weren't particularly merry for my cousins living in Grand Teton Drive in our Pacifica (California) neighborhood. Their mom (my very loving aunt) has been diagnosed to be suffering from myxedema, one of two extreme cases of hypothyroidism (the other one being cretinism). I've been used to my aunt's exuberant personality; but when I visited her family toward the end of last year, I found her in a rather pitiful state. She appeared mentally dull, her voice sounded hoarse, and she had difficulty responding to what I was saying because she had an obvious hearing impairment. But the most noticeable sign that something's wrong with her was that her face has become swollen in a distinctive manner. How did these things happen to her? What exactly is the condition she's suffering from?

From the explanation of the doctor handling my aunt's case, my cousins told me that myxedema is a severe type of hypothyroidism, a condition in which the thyroid (the endocrine gland lying at the anterior base of the neck) is underactive and does not produce enough of its hormones (thyroxine); or it can be that the thyroxine secreted is of poor quality. Surprisingly though in this condition, the thyroid may be considerably enlarged (this most likely explains the swollen look on my aunt's face).

Hypothyroidism occurs mainly in women over the age of forty. Iodine deficiency in the diet is a common cause of this condition. But in my aunt's myxedema case, according to her doctor, the cause is an autoimmune disorder which is destroying her thyroid, effectively removing the source of thyroxine. The lack of these hormones is resulting to the general slowing down of her body's metabolism; even her heart rate is slowing down.