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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffGoiters can affect anyone. They may be present at birth and occur at anytime throughout life, although they're more common after age 50. Some common risk factors for goiter include:
- A lack of dietary iodine. People living in areas where iodine is in short supply and who don't have access to iodine supplements are at high risk of goiter.
- Your sex. Because women are more prone to thyroid disorders than men are, they're also more likely to develop goiters.
- Your age. Being age 50 or older puts you at higher risk.
- Medical history. A personal or family history of autoimmune disease increases your risk.
- Pregnancy and menopause. For reasons that aren't entirely clear, thyroid problems are more likely to occur after pregnancy and menopause.
- Certain medications. Some medical treatments, including immunosuppressants, antiretrovirals, the heart drug amiodarone and the psychiatric drug lithium, increase your risk.
- Radiation exposure. Your risk increases if you've had radiation treatments to your neck or chest area or you've been exposed to radiation in a nuclear facility, test or accident.
References
- Goiter. American Thyroid Association. http://www.thyroid.org/patients/brochures/Goiter_brochure.pdf. Accessed Oct. 1, 2008.
- Simple nontoxic goiter. The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec12/ch152/ch152i.html. Accessed Oct. 1, 2008.
- Jameson JL, et al. Disorders of the Thyroid Gland. In: Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's Online. 17th edition. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2877579&searchStr=goiter. Accessed Nov. 28, 2008.
- LaFranchi S. Goiter and thyroid cancer in children. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Oct. 1, 2008.
- LaFranchi S. Clinical manifestations and diagnosis of hyperthyroidism in children and adolescents. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Oct. 1, 2008.
- Endocrinology update: Imaging the thyroid nodule. MayoClinic.org. http://www.mayoclinic.org/mcitems/mc5800-mc5899/mc5810-1207.pdf. Accessed Oct. 1, 2008.
- Iodine. The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library: Home Edition for Patients and Caregivers. http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec12/ch155/ch155f.html. Accessed Oct. 2, 2008.
- Bauer DC, et al. Thyroid Disease. In: McPhee SJ, et al. Pathophysiology of Disease: An Introduction to Clinical Medicine. 5th edition. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.; 2006. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2091040&searchStr=goiter. Accessed Nov. 28, 2008.
- Nontoxic goiter: Diffuse and nodular. In: Kronenberg HM, et al. Williams Textbook of Endocrinology. 11th edition. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/112198375-3/778390960/1555/77.html. Accessed Nov. 28, 2008.
