How hypothyroidism causes depression (warning)

The causes of depression are complex, but it’s known that physical health conditions can play a role.

One such condition is hypothyroidism, where the thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough hormones.

Not all types of hypothyroidism are made the same. A study in the Journal of Affective Disorders has just checked exactly which types of hypothyroidism cause depression.

Observational studies have suggested a connection between certain hypothyroidism subtypes and depression.

However, these studies can’t tell us whether hypothyroidism triggers depression, whether depression affects the thyroid, or whether the two conditions are both present because of some third factor.

That’s where this study comes in.

It uses a clever method called Mendelian Randomization. Let’s say your genes are blueprints for your traits, including your risk of hypothyroidism and depression. Specific variations in these blueprints, called single nucleotide polymorphisms, can act like switches, determining whether you develop the trait or not.

Mendelian Randomization uses these genetic switches to understand which trait comes first, and can thus explain which is the cause and which the effect.

The researchers gathered data from two massive genetic databases, the FinnGen and the UK Biobank, which included information from people primarily of European ancestry.

They looked for switches linked to different hypothyroidism subtypes such as autoimmune or medication-induced and depression.

The study found interesting connections:

1. Two types of hypothyroidism caused depression and increased patients’ risk of this mental condition by around two percent: strict autoimmune hypothyroidism and hypothyroidism identified through levothyroxine purchases.

2. Iodine deficiency hypothyroidism, those following infections, and those related to specific thyroid hormones didn’t show a causal link.

Strict autoimmune hypothyroidism is a condition caused by an autoimmune disease, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the thyroid gland.

Hypothyroidism identified through levothyroxine purchases doesn’t pinpoint the underlying cause of the condition, but identifies patients via drug purchases.

To some extent, this study seems to debunk a very common belief: the idea that hypothyroidism causes depression. Only two forms of it cause depression, and even then, it increases patients’ depression risk by very little.

If you are surprised by this conclusion, remember that it doesn’t mean that hypothyroidism patients don’t have depression.

They might have depression, but this study suggests that fairly little of this depression is actually caused by their hypothyroidism.

This doesn’t reduce the urgency to heal your hypothyroidism. It’s life-threatening in numerous ways. Here are the exact baby steps thousands of readers used to reverse their hypothyroidism naturally…