New research out of the Netherlands suggests that underperforming thyroids have been linked to an increased risk for the development of type 2 diabetes.
The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society by Dr. Layal Chaker. He said that hypothyroidism – a condition where the thyroid underproduces necessary hormones – has been linked to an increased risk of diabetes development.
“Low thyroid function is associated with a higher risk of developing diabetes and also of progression from prediabetes to diabetes,” said Dr. Chaker, adding that the heightened risk also extended to people who had lower-than-normal thyroid production, but enough production that they weren’t yet classified as having hypothyroidism.
Thyroid Problems and Diabetes
For their study, researchers examined nearly 8,500 individuals over the age of 45 who did not have diabetes at the outset. The mean age was 65 years old, 58 percent were female and they had an average of 1.91 mlU/L of thyroid-stimulating hormone and 15.7 pmol/L of free thyroxine (T4), both within the normal range. Researchers followed up with participants years later (mean follow-up 7.9 years) and uncovered that 1,100 people had developed prediabetes and 798 had developed type 2 diabetes.
After adjusting for other health factors, researchers uncovered:
- The progression of prediabetes to diabetes was 1.25-fold higher comparing the lowest to the highest tertiles.
- Higher free T4 was associated with a lower diabetes risk.
The above findings contain a lot of technical jargon, but here’s the takeaway point. Researchers believe that the risk of type 2 diabetes development is increased among those with under-performing thyroids because those hormones play a key role in energy expenditure and weight, two key components of fighting off the onset of diabetes. TSH also affects our metabolism, which affects how quickly our body breaks down and absorbs key nutrients.
Researchers believe the findings suggest that individuals with under-producing thyroids need to take extra lifestyle steps to ensure they don’t develop type 2 diabetes, and they believe doctors can use this information to screen for the condition before it worsens. They hope to perform further studies to better understand the implications of underperforming thyroid glands.
