Sally Fields made an appointment to see her physician. She had been feeling very lethargic and had been gaining weight despite her efforts to diet. The physician inquired into Sally’s diet and asked if she took any mineral supplements. Next the physician ordered some blood work to check for systemic levels of a particular hormone. A) What hormone does the physician expect is involved in this condition? Thyroxine B) Does the physician expect a hyposecretion or hypersecretion of this hormone? Hyposecretion Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism

The physician likely suspects that Sally may be experiencing hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough of the thyroxine hormone, also known as T4 (Rados et al., 2017). This hormone is responsible for regulating the body’s metabolism and energy levels (Hoffman, 2019). Due to the lack of T4, the body’s metabolism slows down, which can result in fatigue, weight gain, and other symptoms (Hoffman, 2019). The physician is likely ordering a blood test to check for the level of thyroxine hormones present in Sally’s system in order to confirm their suspicions. Cont…