Anxiety Symptoms in Subclinical Thyroid Disorder
Emotional Manifestations with Mild Hormone Imbalances
Sep 25, 2009
Both anxiety and depression can manifest as part of the symptom complex in overt (full-blown) hypothyroid and hyperthyroid disorders but some medical studies conclude that emotional symptoms can occur in subclinical cases as well.
Blood Testing Patients with Emotional Disorders
Medical sources on statistics for emotional disorders vary but some place the incidence for depression in the general population at about 20%. Other statistics that separate the numbers by gender state that up to 1 in 4 women (25%) and up to 1 in 6 men (16.6%) will experience a serious bout of depression at some point in their lives. The statistics for anxiety are also very high, with an estimated 18% of the general population experiencing it to a degree serious enough to be called “anxiety disorder”, at some point during their adult lives.
Other medical sources state that a significant percentage of emotional disorder cases have underlying medical causes contributing to them or causing them. Health disorders that can cause anxiety and depression symptoms include endocrines ones, such as diabetes, adrenal gland conditions, thyroid disorders, Mitral Valve Prolapse (heart murmur), autoimmune diseases and sex hormone imbalances. With such a variety of potential medical causes being a possibility in emotional symptoms cases, diagnostic blood testing should be a priority to determine if a medical cause exists or if a condition is an emotional-only disorder.
Study Cites Subclincal Thyroid Disorders as a Cause of Anxiety
In a medical research study published on the PubMed website, titled “Assessment of anxiety in subclinical thyroid disorders.” the study concludes that anxiety symptoms are significantly increased in patients with subclinical thyroid dysfunction, whether it is of the hyperthyroid or hypothyroid type.
It may be possible that subclinical thyroid hormone imbalance is similar in respect to pre-diabetes and diabetic conditions that can cause hypoglycemia. People, who experience episodes of low glucose (blood sugar), will experience a bodily reaction of increased adrenaline, causing anxiety and nervousness. This is the body’s way of compensating one hormone for another that is low or possibly the body’s way of trying to encourage more hormone production in the body. It may be that increased adrenaline also occurs to compensate for thyroid hormones that are beginning to head toward low levels (subclinical).
Additional Medical Treatment or Therapies May Still Be Needed
Correcting abnormal thyroid hormone levels can alleviate emotional symptoms in most cases of treatable thyroid dysfunction or significantly reduce them. Subclinical thyroid disorders however, may not be treatable until the hormone imbalance is serious enough to require correction. Hypothyroidism for example that is treated too soon can cause thyrotoxicity by placing more, hormone in the body before it is needed.
Until thyroid treatments can be administered, subclinical thyroid cases may need other drug or psychiatric therapies to control anxiety and/or depression symptoms. These type cases also require repeat blood testing follow ups, to monitor the progression of subclinical thyroid disorders.
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