Thyroid Hormone Blood Levels Linked To Psychiatric Trouble (November 30, 2011)

Some psychiatric problems such as depression and anxiety can be treated with thyroid medication providing improvements in mood, memory and cognition.  New research indicates that thyroid hormonal problems have been linked to common psychiatric symptoms.  This research is still controversial but reprsents a major step for patients who suffer from the onset of psychiatric problems.

Psychiatric researchers in Long Island have recently concluded that treating patient with psychiatric symptoms with thyroid hormones experience improvements in mood and cognition.  Researchers even believe that thyroid hormones could even prevent further congnitive decline.

Historically doctors have never agreed upon a link between thyroid malfunction and psychiatric problems. These researchers believe it has been common for patients with thyroid diesease to be misdiagnosed with psychiatric problems.

The thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland encircling the trachea that productes the hormones triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4).  These hormones are involved in many of process in the body from regulating metabolism, heartbeat, temperature and even cognitive functioning.  The thyroid can be caused to malfunction by many common factors from diet to certain types of medication to exposure to radiation.

Thyroid disease comes as either too much thyroid hormone (hyperthyroidism) or too little thyroid hormone (hypothyroidism). Too much thyroid hormone can cause weight loss, anxiety, sweating, and palpitations. anxiety.  Too little thyroid hormone can cause weight gain, sluggishness, physical fatigue, depression, or concentration and memory problems.

Blood levels of thyroid stimulating hormone, or TSH, are most commonly used to measure a patients thyroid hormone levels.  Normal measurements range from 0.4 to 5. Higher levels of TSH indicate that your thyroid is less active than normal. Blood levels of TSH with measurements greater than 10 are generally agreed by endocrinologists to require treatment for hypothyroidism.

Patients with measurements between 4 and 10 are more open to interpretation and  combined with complaints of psychiatric symptoms such as not feeling like themselves, depression, or fatigue can easily lead to misdiagnosis of a psychiatric problems.

Treating patients with TSH measurements between 4 and 10, known as subclinical hypothyroidism is highly controversial. Thyroid hormone treatments can aggravate osteoporosis but failing to treat the condition can lead to heart problems and potentially increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

There is also a gender bias as women are much more likely to develop thyroid problems particularly after the age of 50.  Psychiatric symptoms can be hard to nail down due to vague complaints and highly individualized symptoms.  This bias may also account for the failure to treat subclinical hypothyroidism as doctors dismiss these subtle symptoms. 

In light of this groundbreaking research any person experiencing mild psychiatric symtoms should consider thyroid testing and thyroid treatment. 

If you are experiencing weight gain or weight loss, unexplained tiredness or weakness, anxiety or increased heart rate, or constantly being too hot / too cold you should have you thyroid checked with a convenient blood test from Health Testing Centers.  The initial tests to consider are the Thyroid Profile and TSH blood tests that provide detailed information regardging your levels of T3 and T4 hormones.  Both the Thyroid Profile and TSH blood test are included in a Health Testing Centers Thyroid Function Test Level 1.  If a thyroid problem is indicated or has been previously detected the Health Testing Centers Thyroid Function Test Level 2 will provide the additional information of Free T3 and Free T4 levels, essential information when managing a thyroid disorder.