Mild Thyroid Problems Double Risk Of Heart Failure
If you have a mildly underactive thyroid, your risk of developing heart failure is twice as high as someone with a normal thyroid level.
Heart failure occurs when your heart can’t pump enough blood to your other organs. This can cause fatigue, shortness of breath, and ankle swelling.
It’s been known for a while that hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid) and hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid) can cause heart problems.
But a new study from the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine in San Francisco shows that people with subclinical hypothyroidism are at risk, too.
Subclinical means you have a mildly underactive thyroid that’s only detectable by a blood test.
To find out if you have it, your doctor would order blood tests for thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine levels.
If your TSH level is more than 4.5 mU/L and you have normal free thyroxine levels, then you have subclinical hypothyroidism.
If at some point, your free thyroxine levels fall below normal, then you’ll be diagnosed with overt hypothyroidism. This always requires thyroid hormone therapy.
In addition to heart failure, a mildly underactive thyroid may also speed up the development of osteoporosis, especially in postmenopausal women who are prone to it.
The UC study followed more than 3,000 adults 65 years and older over a 12-year period.
The results showed that individuals who had a TSH level greater or equal to 10 mU/L were twice as likely to develop heart failure as those with normal thyroid levels.
You should discuss this with your doctor, especially if thyroid problems run in your family. It may make sense to get your thyroid function checked periodically.
Technorati Tags: hypothyroidism, TSH, thyroxine, thyroid, hyperthyroidism, heart failure, osteoporosis
October 10th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Never knew thyroid was that serious.
October 10th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
My girlfriend had thyroid problems that went undiagnosed for a while and she developed heart problems. Her new doctor told her if the problem had been caught in time, she probably wouldn’t have ever got heart disease. It’s really important to get checked and if you don’t think your doctor is taking you seriously or finding the problem, get a second opinion.
October 10th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Thyroid problems are really common but I’ve known a lot of women who didn’t get diagnosed right the first time. A lot of times we get told it’s in our head when we feel tired.
October 10th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Hey, don’t forget that men can get this, too!
October 10th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
I’m glad I don’t have a thyroid problem. Like Jackie said, I never knew it was that serious.
October 10th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Unless you get specific symptoms, it’s hard to get a doctor to take you seriously. By the time you have heart failure, it’s really a little late to be getting a thyroid diagnosis.
October 10th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
this is news to me. I always though hyperthyroidism was the bad one. I thought you were relatively safe if you were hypothyroid.
October 10th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
My aunt has hypothyroidism. Even with medication, she feels differently from day to day and a lot of times, she just feels lousy even though her blood tests say the dosage of her medicine is right. She hasn’t had heart problems, but it’s a tricky condition.