To fully understand how this gland works, we must know at first it's position and porpouse.Placed at the front bottom of the neck, the thyroid gland is one of the smallest glands of the human organism. It usually weights less than an ounce and it is made of two lobes. These lobes are connected together by a band called the isthmus. The two parts of the thyroid gland, the lobes are placed along the trachea. To be more exact, the thyroid gland is placed below the larynx, or Adam's apple.



An interesting matter involving the thyroid is it's "birth". While the child is still in his mother's womb, the thyroid can be found in the back part of the tounge. Just before birth, this small gland changes it's position and moves to the front of the neck.But there are exceptions to this normal situation. These exceptions are very rare, but nevertheless they exist. It is possible that the gland fails to move in the right part of the neck and can be found more high, or even in the back of the toungue. Another strange, but also very rare situation is when the thyroid can actually be found in the chest.

After knowing exactly where the thyroid is found, one must know it's purpose. This bow tie like gland has the role to transform the iodine into hormones. It's role is very hard an extremely important, for this is the only gland in the body that can absorb iodine through it's cells. Every other cell in the human body depends on the proper function of the thyroid cells. That is because the thyroid produces hormones that regulate the metabolism.

For example, the conversion of calories into energy is controlled by the mix of iodine with amino acid tyrosine, mixture released into the blood, and from there to all parts of the organism. Another example could be the conversion of oxygen.

All of us know that even the smallest cell in our body must depend on another and so on. So there would be no wonder that the thyroid itself depends on another gland, called the pituitary gland. It is located at the base of the human brain. This gland stimulates the production of hormones in the thyroid. If the level of hormones is too low, the pituitary gland makes the thyroid stimulating hormone, which of course have the role of stimulating the production of thyroid hormones. Of course the pituitary gland is stimulated in her turn by the hypotalamus. This is a part of the brain, which produces releasing hormones that tell the pituitary gland to produce hormones to stimulate the thyroid.