Publication:

Evaluation of serum lipid profile in female patients with hypothyroidism: a rural based study

Background Hypothyroidism is the most common of thyroid disorders in India affecting one in ten adults and more so in women than men by 6 to 8 times with overall prevalence accounting to 11%.

Methods This hospital based prospective study was conducted in the outpatient ENT Department of district hospital, Koppal Institute Of Medical Sciences, Koppal, Karnataka between January to June 2019 which involved total 60 Female patients out of which 20 patients were euthyroid controls and the remaining 40 patients were having one or more clinical manifestations of hypothyroidism who were divided into group A (n=20, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) between 5 and 10 mIU/ml) and group B (n=20, TSH >10 mIU/ml) based on TSH values. All 60 patients were in the age group of 35 to 55 years with a mean age of 42 years. Objective of study were to estimate serum lipids in female patients clinically diagnosed with hypothyroidism, to quantify the effect of lipid lowering drug and L-thyroxine therapy on TSH and serum lipid profiles.

Results Mean total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides level in cases was higher than controls whereas high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was found significantly decreased in cases compared to controls.

Conclusions In hypothyroid patients with TSH 10 mIU/ml, it’s imperative to institute L-thyroxine therapy for restoration of TSH and altered lipids back to normal levels.