Hypothyroidism does more than mess with your metabolism.
It’s a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart attacks, and strokes.
This is confirmed in a recent study published in Frontiers in Endocrinology.
But it also highlights two actions you can take to disable hypothyroidism the connected diseases.
The researchers examined 2,628 adults to explore how hypothyroidism connects with metabolic syndrome (a cluster of conditions that increase your chances of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke).
Takeaways:
1. High Rates of Hypothyroidism: In this study, 30% of adults had hypothyroidism. Most of these cases were subclinical, meaning they had low thyroid function without obvious symptoms.
2. Gender Differences: Women were significantly more likely to experience hypothyroidism than men, with 36% of women affected versus 24% of men.
3. Lifestyle Impact: Common habits, like smoking and drinking, were found to increase the risk of developing hypothyroidism. This is crucial since it shows that lifestyle choices can directly affect thyroid health.
4. Increased Risk of Metabolic Syndrome: The study found that people with low thyroid hormone levels had a higher likelihood of metabolic syndrome—a combination of high blood pressure, excess body fat, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol. These factors are all serious red flags for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Thankfully, there are actions you can take to reduce these risks.
Start by addressing lifestyle factors: if you smoke or drink, quitting can help lower your risk of hypothyroidism and the health problems it brings.
The best thing to do is, of course, to permanently heal your hypothyroidism naturally. Thousands of readers have done that using the simple lifestyle changes explained here…