In the past decade, there has been increasing recognition of thyroid diseases as a common health problem. While there have been few major new advances in treatment, there is much greater understanding of why thyroid disorders occur and the long-term health effects of thyroid disease. As people with thyroid disease begin to know more about their disorder, they are able to co-operate better with treatment and their anxieties about the problem can be significantly reduced. This fourth edition of Thyroid Disease: The Facts provides a reader-friendly source of information and reassurance for those people with thyroid disorders and their families. The book covers the wide range of conditions associated with thyroid dysfunction, from simple goitre to more complex disorders such as Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. This edition also includes several completely new chapters, including one specifically devoted to thyroid disorders in infants, children and adolescents. Each chapter concludes with a useful Question and Answer section.