Exploring The Link Between Obesity And Hypothyroidism

J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. 2023 Oct-Dec;35(4):608-611. doi: 10.55519/JAMC-04-12226.

Abstract

Background: Obesity and hypothyroidism are two common clinical conditions that are often connected. This connection is now more important because of an exceptional rise in the prevalence of obesity around the world. Both of these conditions have a noteworthy impact on human health and well-being. The main objective of this study was to determine the frequency of hypothyroidism in obese patients presenting at Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 242 patients in the Department of Medicine of Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad from 1st March to 31st August 2022. SPSS version 23.0 was used for data analysis.

Results: In this study, 242 obese patients were included. The mean age of the patients was 39.55±9.361 years. The mean BMI was 41.62±8.099kg/m2 ranging from 31 to 61kg/m2, the mean TSH level was 3.04±2.604mU/l, the mean T4 level was 8.53±2.215pmol/L and the mean T3 level was 1.2195±0.35795nmol/L. Out of a total of 242 patients, 34 (14.0%) were male and 208(86.0%) were female patients. Patients found with overt hypothyroidism were 11 (4.5%), subclinical hypothyroidism were 31 (12.8%) and euthyroid were 200 (82.6%).

Conclusions: The proportion of hypothyroidism among the obese patients was quite less in our setup and not significantly associated with age and gender of the patients.

Keywords: Thyroid Gland; Hypothyroidism; BMI; T3; T4; Thyroid stimulating hormone.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hypothyroidism* / complications
  • Hypothyroidism* / epidemiology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Obesity / complications
  • Obesity / epidemiology
  • Thyrotropin

Substances

  • Thyrotropin