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Thursday, May 9, 2013 – Daily News 3B FEATURES Hypothyroisism is simple to diagnose Hubby expected to pony up for party between my husband and Dear Annie: My hussome of his siblings. — band is the youngest of Wife of Mr. 15 Percent seven siblings. While they Dear Wife: Obviously, are all successful, some are your husband's sister should more financially comforthave discussed the finances able than others. with her siblings if she Five years ago, the oldest expected them to split the sibling wanted to give their bill. And if she is having a mother an 80th birthday party. She planned a huge Annie's problem with your husband, she shouldn't be slamming party for hundreds of her him on Facebook or in mother's friends and neighbors. She rented a party by Kathy Mitchell group emails. However, she place, hired a band and and Marcy Sugar did go through a lot of trouble to plan the party, and for catered an elaborate buffet and open bar. She then emailed all five years, she's been out of pocket of the siblings and informed them the amount she thought your husband would pay. He doesn't ''owe'' that they each owed her $1,000. Annie, my husband didn't have her the rest. But in order to maintain that kind of extra money. He had good family relations, your husband recently moved, found a new job might speak privately with his sister and married me, a graduate student. and ask whether he could contribute He also pays child support for a whatever additional monies he can daughter and the mortgage on afford on an installment plan. Dear Annie: Please tell the men another daughter's home, as well as in your reading audience that our rent. He explained this to his sister and women interpret their wedding said he could pay $150. We attended vows differently than we do. I finally proposed to my girlthe party and enjoyed ourselves. There was no animosity from the friend of many years. It made such a sister about the money at that time. huge difference in our relationship, But now she has started making rude which had been floundering a bit. I comments to my husband and the never realized how hurt she was by other siblings via Facebook and my lack of commitment. She email that she is still waiting for my thought I didn't love her enough and husband to ''step up to the plate'' told me it made her feel as if she wasn't a part of my life or a member and pay the rest of his share. Is it right for one member of a of my family. She said she felt like family to plan an event without con- a housekeeper with privileges. Now our ability to communicate sulting the others and then expect them to pony up the money request- and enjoy things together is so pleaed? This has caused a serious rift surable again. It scares me to think Mailbox we had almost given up on each other and might have ended up living out our lives apart and unhappy. We men don't think about the sense of security it gives a woman to know, with legal vows, that a man wants to spend the rest of his life with her. — Happy and Alive Again Dear Happy: In all fairness, not all women feel this way. But we are glad you figured out what mattered to your girlfriend and told her so. The inability to commit is a problem we hear a great deal about, so we appreciate your spelling it out for the relationship challenged. Dear Annie: Please tell ''Not Anti-Social or Addicted to the Internet'' that fraternal organizations offer a place for everyone who is looking for friendship and a way to become involved and active. If one has a military background, I suggest checking out the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars or one of their affiliate organizations. In addition, there are the Elks lodges, Eagles clubs and Masonic organizations, to mention a few. I belong to the Shriners, and they have a great deal of social interaction. — Kansas Brother of your thyroid by DEAR DOCfeeling around TOR K: My doctor your neck. He or thinks I may have she will check for hypothyroidism. physical signs of How will he make hypothyroidism, the diagnosis? such as coarse hair DEAR READor hair loss, dry or ER: Hypothyyellowish skin, roidism is the medical term for an Dr. K and pale or puffy appearance. Your underactive thyby Anthony L. roid. Some condi- Komaroff, M.D. weight, cholesterol levels and tions are hard to diagnose, but fortunately blood pressure will also be hypothyroidism is not one checked. — TSH test. This test is of them. Your thyroid is a small the best way to determine gland in your neck that if you have thyroid dismakes the thyroid hor- ease. (I've put a table mones, called T3 and T4. showing the normal, low These hormones leave the and high values for the gland and travel in the TSH and other thyroid blood to every cell in your blood tests on my website, body. Thyroid hormones AskDoctorK.com.) If your influence the rate at which TSH level is high, you are every cell, tissue and organ hypothyroid. If TSH levels are below normal, you are in your body functions. Hypothyroidism occurs hyperthyroid: Your thyroid when your thyroid gland gland is making too much doesn't produce enough thyroid hormone. (There thyroid hormones. Your are exceptions to this, but body slows down, creating they are infrequent.) — T4 and T3 tests. symptoms such as fatigue, depression, weight gain, Once secreted by the thyfeeling cold for no good roid, only a small amount reason, constipation and of T4 is "free" and available for immediate use. In dry skin. Your thyroid gland is hypothyroidism, there's controlled by another not enough free T4 in the gland: the pituitary gland, blood. There's also not which is in the brain. It enough T3 in the blood. Together, the TSH, free sends a chemical message to your thyroid, telling it T4 and T3 tests can estabhow much hormone to lish a diagnosis. They can make. The chemical mes- also indicate how severe sage is called thyroid- your problem is. Fortunately, treating stimulating hormone hypothyroidism is easy. (TSH). Your brain is constantly You take thyroid hormone sensing whether there is an in pill form, to replace the adequate level of thyroid hormone your thyroid hormones circulating in gland is not making your blood. If not, the pitu- enough of. The same thyitary makes more TSH. roid blood tests used to Higher levels of TSH diagnose hypothyroidism prompt the thyroid to pro- also are used to determine duce more thyroid hor- if you're taking the right mones. Low TSH levels dose of thyroid medicines. signal the thyroid to slow These tests are repeated regularly, since a person's down production. To diagnose hypothy- dose can change over roidism, your doctor will time. Diagnosing hypothyperform a physical examination and some blood roidism has become much simpler and more precise tests: — Physical exam. Your since I went to medical doctor will assess the size school. Annie's Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please email your questions to anniesmailboxcomcast.net, or write to: Annie's Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. CalFire encourages wildfire preparedness California has already experienced an increase in fire activity, and to ensure Californians are ready, Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr. has declared May 5-11 as Wildfire Awareness Week. CalFire is reminding residents of the dangers from wildfires and the simple steps that should be followed to prepare and prevent them. "The conditions right now are what we should be experiencing in June," said Chief Ken Pimlott, CalFire director. "This year's dry winter has resulted in a significant increase in fire activity, in fact CalFire firefighters have responded to nearly 1,100 wildfires this year, which is over 500 more than average." According to the state's final snow survey on May 2, the statewide snowpack water content is only 17 percent of normal. From January through May 2, nearly 23,000 acres have burned in California, which is significantly more than the 1,250 acres that had burned for the same time period last year. During Wildfire Awareness Week, Cal- Fire is reminding Californians that when it comes to wildfires, remember "Ready, Set, Go!" Being Ready for a wildfire starts by maintaining 100 feet of Defensible Space and hardening homes with fire resistant building materials. "It's critical that residents prepare for wildfires by maintaining 100 feet of Defensible Space around all homes," said Chief Pimlott. "Most wildfires are preventable and we need residents and vacationers to be extra cautious outdoors so we can prevent wild- fires from occurring in the first place." Homeowners looking for additional information on how to prepare themselves, their families and their homes for wildfire can visit w w w. R e a d y F o r Wi l d fire.org. The site offers tips for residents to make their homes more resistant to wildfires and to ensure that their families are ready to evacuate early and safely when a wildfire strikes. For more information visit www.fire.ca.gov or w w w. R e a d y F o r Wi l d fire.org. An Independently owned and operated Member of Coldwell Banker Residential Affiliates. 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