Thyroid disorders: What they are and how they affect body, treatments

Surgeons at Nyeri County Referral Hospital perform a thyroid surgery on a patient. [Kibata Kihu/ Standard]

Thyroid disease is a general term for a medical condition that keeps your thyroid from making the right amount of hormones. It can affect people of all ages.

According to the American Thyroid Association, your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland located at the front of your neck under your skin. It's a part of your endocrine system and controls many of your body's important functions by producing and releasing thyroid hormones, like thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3).