I have looked about on dogpile and google about certain seemingly random symptoms that don't belong to any one particular ailment, and some of the sites I had found suggested a possible thyroid malfunction. I came here to ask if any of you guys could help me.

My "symptoms" are as follows:

- horrible short-term memory (exceptional long-term memory o.O)

- excessive coldness (even in summer sometimes)

- lousy metabolism

- short height (maybe not to you guys, but 5' 4" is short to me! )

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I don't know if thyroid problems are hereditary or not. But the only person in my family (that I know of) that has a thyroid problem is my aunt, a.K.A. My mom's sister. She told me that she has to take medication every day for the rest of her life because of such a problem.

I must ask this: is a thyroid problem anything to be overly concerned about? Could it cause future problems for me if left untreated? How can a doctor find out if you have a thyroid problem...Through a blood test perhaps?

Finally, is there a way to correct a thyroid problem without the burden of eternal medicine, perhaps with an operation of some sort?

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I used to think the thyroid gland was a seemingly useless organ whose only "purpose" was to cause problems, like tonsils or the appendix or the spleen. But after some careful research I found out that the diminuitive thyroid gland has a lot of duties to carry out, regulating all sorts of hormones, including the ones that deal with metabolism and growth.

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One last thing guys...I plan on seeing my aunt this week to do some exciting blueberry picking ^-^, and if I go alone with her, I really want to ask her about her own thyroid troubles. Do you think it would be very rude to ask her how she found out about her problem or how to tell if I have one? I just really want to ask someone who has been there.

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Scaredbaka - doesn't want to be rude