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Symptoms Associated with Thyroid Autoimmunity

Problems Not Directly Related to Hormone Levels

Sep 13, 2009 Jim Lowrance

In addition to symptoms that occur due to thyroid hormone imbalances, they may also occur as a result of autoimmune thyroid disease processes.

According to a number of studies published on the PubMed (U.S. National Institutes of Health) website and other medical sources, thyroid autoimmunity can contribute to a variety of symptom-manifestations in patients whose thyroid hormone levels have not yet fallen outside of normal values. Symptoms to varied degrees may also continue to occur in patients whose thyroid hormone imbalances have been corrected.

Goiter and Thyroid Nodules

In some cases of autoimmune thyroid diseases, a mild goiter (thyroid enlargement) is the first symptom that manifests. This can be true of both Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (autoimmune hypothyroidism) and Graves’ disease (autoimmune hyperthyroidism). The goiter can appear in advance of abnormal thyroid hormone levels, resulting from inflammation in the gland rather than directly resulting from thyroid hormone imbalance. The same is true of thyroid nodules (small tumor-like growths) which can develop in thyroid glands with abnormal tissue in them caused by thyroid autoimmunity but that have not yet begun to dysfunction in producing thyroid hormones.

Anxiety and Mood Disorders

According to Dr. Richard C. W. Hall, MD, a medical researcher for Johns Hopkins University and a forensic psychiatrist, anxiety symptoms can be the first to manifest in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, the autoimmune cause of hypothyroidism. In his article titled “Anxiety and Endocrine Disease”, he states that anxiety can be the prominent and initial symptom observed in newly diagnosed Hashimoto’s patients.

Other research articles address the association of mood and anxiety disorders with thyroid autoimmunity, including one titled “A case control study on psychiatric disorders in Hashimoto disease and euthyroid goitre: not only depressive but also anxiety disorders are associated with thyroid autoimmunity”. The research conclusion in this study states that these psychiatric manifestations occur in some patients, independent of thyroid hormone levels, meaning they are not directly caused by thyroid hormone imbalance but caused by the auto-antibodies that are present in thyroid diseases.

Rheumatic Symptoms

In a PubMed published medical research article titled “Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis and rheumatic manifestations.” the study concludes that rheumatic symptoms, meaning those affecting muscles and joints can occur in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis due to the thyroid autoimmunity and not a direct result of abnormal thyroid hormone levels. The article goes on to state that the joint and muscles aches and stiffness (rheumatic symptoms) can occur in some euthyroid patients which are those whose thyroid hormone levels fall within normal values.

Chronic Fatigue

In another medical research study, published by Alan R. Gaby, M.D., patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) were blood tested for thyroid autoimmunity but a significant percent of them were found to be negative for thyroid disease causing auto-antibodies. Upon performing a Fine Needle Aspiration on these same CFS patients, it was revealed that 40% of them were experiencing chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (Hashimoto’s) but were not yet manifesting abnormal thyroid hormone levels detectable by blood lab testing.

Symptoms of thyroid autoimmunity can range from mild to moderate as described in the preceding subheadings or can become severe and even life-threatening as can occur in a rare condition called “Hashimoto’s Encephalopathy”.

While it is widely believed that thyroid disease symptoms only begin to appear in patients when thyroid hormone levels become imbalanced, the above cited research studies indicate that symptoms can manifest in advance of hormone imbalance, resulting instead from the autoimmune disease process.

The copyright of the article Symptoms Associated with Thyroid Autoimmunity in General Medicine is owned by Jim Lowrance. Permission to republish Symptoms Associated with Thyroid Autoimmunity in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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