Understanding Hypothyroidism and its Connection to Heart Health
Introduction: Hypothyroidism and Heart Health
Hypothyroidism, a common health condition where your thyroid doesn't make enough hormones, can affect your body's cholesterol levels. This can increase the risk for heart issues. This overview explores the link between hypothyroidism and heart health.
Background: Thyroid Hormones and Their Role in Our Bodies
Thyroid hormones are powerful and affect all parts of our bodies, including how our bodies handle cholesterol and fat (lipid metabolism). Having hypothyroidism can lead to high cholesterol and high triglyceride levels, and even increase the risk of heart disease.
Understanding Lipid Metabolism: How Our Bodies Handle Cholesterol
Cholesterol is made in the liver and transported in our blood by proteins. Some of these proteins, like LDL-C, can contribute to heart disease, while others, like high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), can help protect against it. Thyroid hormones affect all these processes.
The Role of Thyroid Hormones in Lipid Metabolism: How Hypothyroidism Affects Cholesterol Levels
Hypothyroidism can disrupt how our bodies handle cholesterol. The severity of cholesterol issues is often linked to how much thyroid hormone the body is missing. Treating hypothyroidism can help manage these cholesterol issues and potentially reduce the risk of heart-related health problems.
Investigation Method: This paper reviewed different studies that explore the changes in cholesterol levels in people with mild (subclinical) and severe (overt) hypothyroidism.
Findings: Unpacking the Connection Between Hypothyroidism and Cholesterol Even mild hypothyroidism can lead to changes in cholesterol levels. The more severe the hypothyroidism, the worse the cholesterol issues tend to be. Age, gender, and weight also play a role. The most common issue we found was high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), often called "bad cholesterol." Fortunately, treating hypothyroidism can help fix these cholesterol issues.
Implications: Hypothyroidism's Impact on Heart Health
High cholesterol can increase the risk of heart disease. So, understanding hypothyroidism as a significant health concern might pave the way for studies looking at how treating hypothyroidism could improve heart health.
Jonklaas, J. Hypothyroidism, lipids, and lipidomics. Endocrine (2023).
It is refreshing that more research is showing how important it is to have optimization when it comes to thyroid function. So often, physicians simply evaluate these numbers, neglect to see how the patient feels and stay rooted to medications that may not lead to improvement because it is the way they have always done things. They often make claims of harm with other medications without a true basis for said claim.
Jason & Rita.
