It’s important for your thyroid gland to be working properly because it’s responsible for regulating many of the body’s processes. Glands are small organs that produce things like sweat, tears, or in this case, hormones.
Located in the front of the throat, the thyroid plays an enormous role in your overall health by controlling metabolism, heart and digestive functions, muscle control, brain development and the maintenance of bones. All of this is largely managed with the two hormones produced by the thyroid: Triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4).
It’s very important that your T3 and T4 levels are maintained at a specific range in order to function properly, which is exactly the job of the pituitary gland. Whenever the pituitary gland sees T4 levels fall too low in the bloodstream, it releases a thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), which tells the thyroid to produce more T4.