The Greeks believed your thymus was home to your soul. In fact, thymus means “soul” in Greek. While no studies have proved that to be the case, your thymus does play an important role in your immune system.
What Is the Thymus Gland?
The thymus gland is a soft organ that is large in babies but begins to shrink after puberty. Once you reach adulthood, your thymus gland becomes relatively small.
Your thymus is a fully developed organ in utero. It’s one of a few that curl in on themselves and become smaller and less active as you get older.
Your thymus creates your T cells, which are a type of white blood cell. The proteins in your thymus help teach the T cells about which organs they're getting sent to. Your thymus prepares your cells to do a specific job for the remainder of their days.
Thymus gland location. Your thymus gland is between your ascending aorta and sternum. It is in the space between your lungs, which is also home to your heart, esophagus, and lymph nodes.
What Does the Thymus Gland Do?
The main function of your thymus gland is to process and teach your T cells. Inside your thymus, these T cells don't react to bacteria or viruses. After these cells mature, they go into the blood and defend your lymphatic organs from disease.
Your T cells go into your body and become the fighting force of your immune system. They do things like identifying and getting rid of cancer cells and pathogens. T cells can also identify and remember viruses and bacteria they come in contact with. They use that information to attack future illnesses. T cells can also help reduce inflammation in your body.
Another essential function of your thymus gland is to produce the hormone thymosin. This hormone helps mature T cells in other organs.
Other hormones your thymus gland makes include:
- Thymopoietin
- Thymulin
- Thymic humoral factor
The thymus functions as an area for diverse T cells to learn how to identify and get rid of foreign organisms in your body. Your thymus plays a significant role in keeping your immune system robust and defendable.
Thymus vs. Thyroid Glands
Your thyroid is an endocrine gland like the thymus. The thyroid is higher up in your body, in your neck. While both glands are a part of your endocrine system, they have different functions.
The thyroid gland is responsible for secreting hormones that control metabolism, whereas your thymus is responsible for T cells that affect your immune system.
Signs Something Could Be Wrong With Your Thymus Gland
Though your thymus is resilient, it can easily be damaged. It's harder for your thymus gland to bounce back after damage as you age. Viral infections and stress can damage your thymus.
When damage happens, you may notice symptoms like chest pain, since your thymus gland is in your chest. Shortness of breath and weight loss are other symptoms of a problem with your thymus. These symptoms may be a sign of an autoimmune condition or potentially thymus cancer.
There are other signs you should watch out for:
- Persistent coughing
- Trouble swallowing
- Dizziness and headache
- Swelling in your face, neck, or upper chest
What Conditions Affect Your Thymus Gland?
Many thymus disorders could affect this small gland in your chest. Knowing the signs and symptoms could help you identify a problem early and start treatment quickly.
Ectopic thymus. This condition causes your thymus to be somewhere other than your chest. An ectopic thymus is benign but often gets confused with a tumor. Depending on its location, it can cause complications for other organs nearby. These include:
- Decreased blood flow
- Discomfort or pain in the area
- Swelling
- Impaired thyroid function
Type 1 diabetes. Insulin plays a critical role in the growth of your thymus gland. You may have trouble with your thymus if you're born with type 1 diabetes. This can cause a weakened immune system and related problems.
Autoimmune disorders. A variety of autoimmune diseases are connected to thymus gland tumors. Conditions like myasthenia gravis, pure red cell aplasia, and hypogammaglobulinemia are linked to thymus gland problems.
Ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus are other autoimmune disorders linked to problems with your thymus.
Thymoma (thymus cancer). This type of cancer is rare, but multiple treatment options are available if caught early. Thymus cancer happens when abnormal growths appear on your thymus gland. Left untreated, thymus cancer can spread to different body parts.
The two types of thymus tumors are thymomas and thymic carcinomas. These are both known as thymic epithelial tumors (TETs). Thymomas are slower-growing tumors that don't often spread beyond your thymus. Thymic carcinomas are more aggressive and grow and spread faster. They're also harder to treat. Around 1 in 5 TETs are thymic carcinoma.
Symptoms aren't common in either type of cancer. But you could notice some, including:
- Shortness of breath
- A cough that doesn't go away
- Chest pain
- A hoarse voice
- Swelling in your face, neck, upper body, or arms
Talk to your doctor if you think you have symptoms related to your thymus gland. It’s vital to catch thymus disorders early. Your doctor can refer you to the right specialists to create a strategic treatment plan.
Thymic hyperplasia. This condition happens when your thymus gland is inflamed. It's non-cancerous but can be linked to many types of medical conditions. These include thyroid issues or myasthenia gravis.
Do You Have to Keep Your Thymus Gland?
The thymus gland is resilient and can regenerate and bounce back after illnesses and viruses, but that doesn’t mean you need to keep your thymus gland once you become an adult.
A recent study has shown that two molecules, IL22 and BMP4, play a part in the natural regeneration of your thymus gland. These molecules come from cells inside your thymus gland and promote repair and rebuilding.
The thymus gland is a critical part of your immune system. But most work is done during childhood and slows after puberty. The T cells created in your thymus gland mature at that point. Then they become useful in fighting for your immune system for the rest of your life.
If you start to have problems with your thymus gland or become at risk for thymomas, your doctor may consider removing your thymus. By adulthood, your thymus becomes less useful.
What Is a Thymectomy?
A thymectomy is surgery to remove your thymus gland.
About 10% of people with myasthenia gravis have a thymoma. This is a tumor on your thymus gland. Usually, these are benign (non-cancerous). But sometimes they can be malignant (cancerous). A thymectomy can help prevent myasthenia gravis.
Doctors recommend this surgery for people over 60 years old who have slight or more intense weakness from myasthenia gravis. For those with slight weakness, a thymectomy might be especially important if the weakness makes them less able to breathe or swallow. They also suggest the surgery for anyone who has a thymoma.
But recent data has shown there might be more side effects to this surgery than experts used to think.
Researchers found that when you have your thymus gland removed, you may have a higher chance of death later in life from any cause. They found that people with a thymectomy were about twice as likely to die within 5 years, even if they had a condition where they needed the surgery, like myasthenia gravis.
People who got a thymectomy might also face a higher risk of cancer. They were found to be twice as likely to get cancer within 5 years of the surgery, compared to those who still have a thymus. Cancer in people who had a thymectomy seemed to be harsher. It was also more likely to return after treatment, compared to those with a thymus.
The study that found this data was observational, which means it can't prove that a thymectomy directly causes cancer or other fatal conditions. But the findings are still a concern for experts. Until they have more data, they urge doctors to think about the importance of keeping the thymus, when possible.
Since the thymus is so important for immune system development during childhood, a thymectomy during childhood (before puberty) can also lead to issues. When this happens, people may have lower T cell numbers in the long run. These are white blood cells that fight germs and disease.
Children who had a thymectomy could also have a weakened immune response when they get vaccines.
The Takeaway
Your thymus gland is an important part of your overall development. The main benefits come during childhood, when your thymus works through complex processes to support your immune system.
At the beginning of life, without a functioning thymus, your T cells wouldn't know what to do or where to go once they mature.
Later in life, there may be reasons to consider surgery to remove your thymus, but the removal may come with some risks of other conditions, like certain cancers.
While your thymus may not hold your soul as the Greeks once believed, it was essential in creating the person you've become.