AbstractBackground: Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and thyroid dysfunction are most common metabolic disorder with its increasing incidence worldwide. Untreated thyroid disorder can adversely affect glucose and lipid metabolism and predisposes patient to atherosclerotic diseases like coronary artery disease and stroke.
Aims and objective: To study thyroid function in T2DM and correlate it with age, sex, body mass index, lipid profile, glycemic control, duration and complications of diabetes.
Materials and Methods: Eighty two T2DM patients were studied prospectively for thyroid function in the Department of Medicine of JA group of Hospitals, GR Medical College, Gwalior from September 2011 to October 2012. A detailed medical history (age, sex, duration of diabetes and existence of symptoms), physical/clinical examination (SBP, DBP, BMI and waist hip ratio), laboratory investigations (compete blood count, blood sugar, blood urea and serum creatinine, liver function test, USG abdomen, urine R/M, serum lipid profile, ECG and chest X-Ray was performed in all patients.
Results: Thyroid dysfunction was found in 21.9% of the T2DM subjects and 7.3% in control. Fatigability (29%) followed by dryness of skin (18.29%) were the most common symptoms of thyroid dysfunction. Mean FT3, FT4 and TSH in cases and control was 2.04±0.92 and 2.46±0.83 (p=0.015), 1.29±1.47 and 1.45±0.39 (p=0.495), 5.14±5.68 and 4.20±1.91 (p=0.305). In study cohort, 78.1% patients had euthyroidism, 20.7% had hypothyroidism and 1.25 had hyperthyroidism. Patients with HbA1c between 7.6-8.5%, 60% were euthyroid and 40% were hypothyroid and with HbA1c between 8.6-9.5%, 90% were euthyroid and 10% were hypothyroid whereas patients with diabetes duration between 5-10 years, 67.8% were euthyroid and 32.14% were hypothyroid and with diabetes duration >10 years, 75% were euthyroid and 25% were hypothyroid.
Conclusion: Thyroid dysfunction mainly hypothyroidism is more prevalent in T2DM compared to healthy subjects, routine testing is recommended in all diabetes patients.