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Your thyroid gland plays a key role in controlling your metabolism, including how your body handles fats in your liver.<\/p>\nYour thyroid gland plays a key role in controlling your metabolism, including how your body handles fats in your liver.<\/p>\n
A new study in the journal JGH Open<\/em> uncovers a terrifying connection between hypothyroidism and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).<\/p>\n Around a third of the world suffers from NAFLD, which is alarming when considering that it destroys the liver and eventually may require a liver transplant. That’s why it’s so important for scientists to identify all its risk factors so we can tackle them.<\/p>\n In a study conducted between 2016 and 2021 with 2,901 participants, researchers explored a connection between low thyroid function and NAFLD.<\/p>\n These individuals were divided into three groups based on their thyroid function: those with normal thyroid levels, those with low thyroid function, and others with subclinical hypothyroidism, which means their thyroid hormones were normal while their thyroid-stimulating hormone was too high.<\/p>\n Researchers followed up with these participants for an average of 15.6 months to see who would go on to develop NAFLD.<\/p>\n This is what they found<\/em>:<\/p>\n 2.\tPeople with low thyroid function were 53% more likely to develop NAFLD.<\/p>\n 3.\tThose with subclinical hypothyroidism had a 95% higher risk.<\/p>\n 4.\tWhile subclinical hypothyroidism was clearly linked to an increased risk of MASLD, having slightly low thyroid function (but not full-blown hypothyroidism) didn’t seem to increase the risk by much.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n Therefore, hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism are both risk factors for NAFLD, independent of sex, age, body mass index, cholesterol, and blood pressure.<\/p>\n This study is important for a few reasons.<\/p>\n First, it highlights how thyroid health can influence liver health, adding to our understanding of how different parts of the body affect each other.<\/p>\n Second, it shows that even mild thyroid issues, like subclinical hypothyroidism, can have significant health impacts.<\/p>\n And finally, it suggests that paying attention to thyroid health could be one way to help prevent liver disease, especially in populations where these health issues are common.<\/p>\n\n