Your thyroid gland plays a key role in making sure that yourbody operates at peak performance. It releases just the right amount of thyroidhormone to help regulate the bodys functions.

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But if something is out of whack with your thyroid, you mayexperience:

Thyroid diseases generally arent preventable. (If youve been avoiding soy or cauliflower to decrease your risk thats just a myth.) But according to endocrinologist Christian Nasr, MD, many thyroid diseases do run in families.

Knowing your family history can help you stay one stepahead of complications from a thyroid disorder and related conditions, he says.

More than 75% of the time, patients with thyroid disease tell me that someone on one side of their family has thyroid disease, says Dr. Nasr.

The more family members that have thyroid disease, the greater the likelihood that there is a hereditary root. And the higher the chances the patient will experience a thyroid problem.

Autoimmune disorders seem to be a genetic link for some of the familial thyroid disorders, he notes. Autoimmune disorders occur when white blood cells go haywire and attack the cells that regulate body functions. The immune systems foul play could cause the thyroid gland to produce too much or too little hormone. So having an autoimmune disease may increase your risk for thyroid disease, Dr. Nasr says.

But this same action the white blood cells attacking bodycells could result in other autoimmune disorders like diabetes, lupus orrheumatoid arthritis, too.

In a family, the same person could have an autoimmunedisorder that causes hypothyroidism and another that causes diabetes, says Dr.Nasr. And you may have a different family member who has diabetes, but notthyroid disease.

The takeaway: Inform your healthcare provider if any autoimmune diseases run in your family, even if there isnt an obvious thyroid connection.

Dr. Nasr has found that even thyroid cancers that arentconsidered hereditary can have a family link. Ive had situations wheremultiple family members have had the type of thyroid cancer thats usually nothereditary, he says.

Clustering of cancers in families isnt unique to thyroidcancer. Some families carry a mutation that suppresses good genes in thebody, which can put them at risk for a variety of cancers.

Different syndromes can increase someones risk for certain types of cancer, Dr. Nasr explains. Cowdens syndrome, for example, increases your risk of thyroid, breast and uterine cancers. Your family history may not include thyroid cancer, but if we see a lot of breast and uterine cancers, we may want to investigate whether there is a syndrome that puts you at risk for thyroid nodules or cancer.

The takeaway: As with the autoimmune disorders, knowyour family history. This information helps your healthcare team find patterns thatmight indicate thyroid disease-causing gene mutations lurking in the background.

What if you dont know about your familys history withthyroid disease? These symptoms may indicate its time to seek medical care:

Once youve addressed your symptoms with your provider, theywill likely perform a neck exam and a simple blood screening test. If allsystems appear to be operating well, your doctor may recommend monitoring overtime. If any of the results are concerning, your doctor may refer you to anendocrinologist or order an imaging test. And if you have a strong family history, genetictesting may help you make important healthcare decisions.

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Thyroid Disease May Run in Your Family and You Might Not Know It - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic

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