‘People unaware about hypothyroidism’

Hyderabad:  Hypothyroidism also called underactive thyroid disease is a common disorder. With hypothyroidism the thyroid gland does not make enough thyroid hormone. The hypothyroidism in developed countries is about 4-5 per cent, whereas in India it is around 10.95 per cent and in two Telugu States its observed between 5.8 per cent to 10 per cent.

Dr Bipin Sethi, DM Endocrinologist, during a press conference said that even through the prevalence of thyroid disorder is more in India people remain unaware and hence undiagnosed. He said that most important symptoms of hypothyroidism such as fatigue, weight gain, lethargy and other common diseases which makes it difficult to ascertain whether the symptoms that patients complained of are due to thyroid disorders or not.

The recent hypothyroidism registry published in The Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism aimed at studying the disease profile in India. A total of 1,500 patients with newly diagnosed hypothyroidism were enrolled in this registry across 33 centers between December 2014 and September 2015. 

Bipin Sethi said that hypothyroidism is observed to be more prevalent in women than in men which are consistent with worldwide epidemiological finding. Two-third of the patients were in the age group of 18-45 years, while a recent study from central India had also reported a higher prevalence rate of hypothyroidism in the age group of 19-45 years.