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The Coronavirus May Mess With Thyroid Levels, Too
Early studies suggest that the thyroid is yet another organ affected by the pandemic coronavirus
As the devastating outbreak of Covid-19 spread in Italy in March, doctors became curious if the ruthless virus, which seemed to wreak unpredictable havoc on the body, was mucking with important organs like the thyroid. At the Ca’ Granda Main Polyclinic Hospital in Milan, it was feasible for them to investigate this because they routinely test critical care patients’ levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone, or TSH, which is an indirect indicator of thyroid health. So Ilaria Muller, MD, PhD, an endocrinologist at the hospital, began comparing blood test results from patients admitted to that critical care unit with data from other patients in the previous year to see if there was a difference in their thyroid hormones.
The thyroid, a butterfly-shaped gland that sits below the Adam’s apple at the base of the throat, performs crucial functions in the body. It secretes hormones that maintain a person’s metabolic rate, fertility, and digestive system, just to name a few of its many responsibilities. Damage to this organ can cause a wide range of symptoms, including weight gain and brain fog, and has even been linked to an increased risk of miscarriage and heart disease.
After excluding people with preexisting thyroid conditions from their analysis, Muller and her colleagues ended up with data from 85 critical care patients from March and April of this year, all of whom had Covid-19, and from 78 people admitted to that same unit during those months in 2019. The study, published July 30 in the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal, found that 13 of those people with Covid-19, around 15%, were experiencing thyrotoxicosis, a condition in which there is an excess of thyroid hormone in the blood. This can happen when the thyroid is damaged, causing an unusually large release of stored up hormone reserves. By comparison, only one of the 78 patients from the 2019 group had evidence of thyrotoxicosis.
The researchers believe that Covid-19, caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, might be a risk factor for an atypical form of thyroiditis, which is characterized by inflammation of the thyroid that can lead to thyrotoxicosis. Viral…
