The relationship between thyroid hormones and different degrees of obesity; a case-control study

Bayar Qasim; Ayad Mohammed; Mazyar Ahmed

doi:10.1530/endoabs.81.EP963

Background: Obesity is a serious health problem worldwide and is caused by a wide variety of etiologies. There are several hormones which have been proved to be associated with increased body weight and has a direct effect on the fat metabolism like thyroid hormones.

Methods: This is a case control study which included 384 adult persons, they were divided into 2 groups according to the thyroid function status, the first group included 204 apparently healthy adults with normal thyroid function as a control group and the other group included 180 patients with decreased thyroid function status as a case group.

Results: The mean age of our patients was 37.12 years, females constituted 53.1%. Most individuals were overweight and obese. There was a very significant correlation between the levels of the TSH and the age, sex, and the BMI (P values 0.000, 0.05, and 0.000) respectively (table 1). Based on FT4 levels, 51.4% had normal level and 48.6% had decreased FT4 levels. The FT4 level had also a very significant correlation with the age, sex, and the BMI (P value 0.000, 0.001, and 0.000) respectively.

Table 1 table showing the relation of the TSH and different parameters including BMI.
			TSH value
Main category	Subcategories	Normal (n=204)	Elevated (n=180)	Sig. 2-sided
Age groups	Young ages (18-45)Middle aged (46-65)Elderly (66 and above)	178(87.3%)23(11.3%)3(1.5%)	120(66.7%)45(25.0%)15(8.3%)	0.000*
Sex	MaleFemale	105(51.5%)99(48.5%)	75(41.7%)105(58.3%)	0.05*
BMI level	UnderweightNormalOverweightObese	8(3.9%)77(37.7%)86(42.2%)33(16.2%)	0(0.0%)26(14.4%)62(34.4%)92(51.1%)	0.000**
* Pearson Chi-Square test. ** Fisher’s Exact test.

Conclusions: Body mass index is directly and positively correlated with both the TSH and the FT4 level. Overt cases of thyroid dysfunction are easier to be detected clinically than subclinical cases, obesity patients can be screened using the thyroid function status and treatment of patients with thyroid dysfunction must be adjusted according the weight.

References: 1. Solanki, A., et al., Relationship of serum thyroid stimulating hormone with body mass index in healthy adults. Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism, 2013. 17(Suppl1): p. S167. 2. Azo Najeeb H, Ahmad Qasim B, Ahmad Mohammed A (2020) Parental history of coronary artery disease among adults with hypothyroidism: case controlled study. Ann Med Surg (Lond) 60:92–101 QASIM, B.A., A.A. MOHAMMED, and M.J. AHMED, LIPID PROFILE IN SUBCLINICAL HYPOTHYROIDISM: A TWO CENTERS EXPERIENCE. Duhok Medical Journal, 2019. 13 (1): p. 56-65.

Endocrine Abstracts

EP963