Assessment of thyroid hormone levels and thyroid disorders: A case study from Gujranwala, Pakistan

Abstract

This case study is conducted to investigate the thyroid hormone levels and relevant disorders including evaluation of dietary conditions in the rural area of Gujranwala and its surrounding districts. Thyroid disorders are clinically prevalent and their manifestation differs considerably with geographical variations. A randomized study of 177 subjects was carried out, with a questionnaire about their dietary habits/life style and acquisition of blood samples for thyroid hormone level assessment using radioimmunoassay technique. This study was permitted by the local ethics committee and an informed consent was obtained from the patients. Study of normally distributed population with p value less than <0.005 and mean age 32.67±13 years demonstrated that 37% female and 43% males were hyperthyroid with elevated levels of FT3and FT4. Amongst the diagnosed cases of hyperthyroidism 47% females and 33% of males were using Iodized salt with 50ug/ppm increased concentration of KIO3 in their diet without any prescription. Furthermore, 60% of diagnosed hypothyroid cases were having no iodine supplementation in their diet. Thyroid function problems are more common in females (N=137) than males (N=40) but the severity of this disease was found to be more pronounced in males as the TSH level (33.13±22.73) was twice that as compared to females (17.63±18.15). Despite a high prevalence of recognized thyroid disease in the population a considerable number of inhabitants have undiagnosed thyroid dysfunction. These findings necessities wider scale studies for the mapping of thyroid behavior and the contributing factors for this region with a population of more than 20 million.