Clinicopathological and biochemical study of thyroid disorders in Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

Endocrine disorders are increasing worldwide. Diseases of thyroid gland are amongst the most abundant endocrine disorder in the world second only to diabetes mellitus (Heuck et al., 2000). Epidemiology of subtypes of thyroid disorders have been reported from many parts of the world particularly Denmark (Carle et al., 2006), Australia (Leary et al., 2006), Turkey (Gozu et al., 2006), United Kingdom (Rashid and Rashid, 2007), Thailand (Sarinnapakorn et al., 2007), Italy (Papi et al., 2007), Netherland (Muller et al., 2008), India (Prakash et al., 2007; Shashi et al., 2009; Singh et al., 2010), Africa (Ogbera and Kuku, 2011), Nepal (Regmi et al., 2011), Spain (Egea et al., 2011), and U.S.A. (Bahn et al., 2012). It has been estimated that about 45 million people in India suffer from thyroid disease. Thyrotoxicosis is the widely prevalent disorder of the thyroid in north India (Kochupillai, 2000). The principal lesions of thyroid gland are goiter (diffuse or nodular), thyroiditis neoplasms and adenomas. Simple goiter is extremely common throughout the world and is thought to affect more than 200 million individuals. It is most prevalent in mountainous areas but also occurs in non- mountainous areas remote from sea (Tsegaye and Ergete, 2003). Thyroid diseases are primarily conditions that affect the amount of thyroid hormones being produced. Excess production leads to hyperthyroidism while diminished production leads to hypothyroidism (Ridgeway, 1996). The clinical symptoms of hypothyroidism are weakness, weight gain, bradykienesis, periorbital puffiness, paresthesias, lethargy, cold intolerance, alopecia, skin pallor, muscle cramps, depression, memory loss and infertility (Guimaraes et al., 2009). Hypothyroidism is one of the pathological condition associated with lipid metabolism and finally dyslipidemia (Pucci et al., 2000).Thyroid hormone appears to play role in the regulation of hepatic lipase, which alter HDL cholesterol subtractions (Tan et al., 1998).