Does Hashimoto’s Increase Your Risk of Thyroid Cancer?

Hashimoto’s disease (HD), also known as chronic thyroiditis, is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the United States. This condition, an autoimmune disease that causes your immune system to mistakenly attack, and destroy, your thyroid, is linked with numerous health complications ranging from heart disease and depression to birth defects and infertility — but the link to cancer is hotly debated.

In the latest study, researchers found nearly 2 percent of those with HD tested positive for papillary thyroid cancer, compared to just under 1 percent of those with Grave’s disease (the most common cause of hyperthyroidism). Given the findings, researchers suggested:

“We recommend performing US [thyroid ultrasonography] at the time of the initial visit in patients with autoimmune thyroid disease, who have a high prevalence of thyroid papillary carcinoma, to detect malignant thyroid tumors.”

Past research has also found a heightened risk, including:

• A study in the Journal of Surgical Research, which found female patients with HD undergoing thyroidectomy were 30 percent more likely to have papillary thyroid cancer.

• A study in Thyroid, which found “… cancer is common in patients who have a thyroidectomy for Hashimoto’s thyroiditis even when not suspected preoperatively.”

What does this mean for you if you currently have Hashimoto’s?

It’s simply a risk factor to be aware of, and one that you may want to keep a close eye on in partnership with your health care practitioner. It’s not a reason to panic. As Jerome Hershman, MD wrote in Clinical Thyroidology:

“Despite this long-standing controversy concerning whether Hashimoto’s thyroiditis predisposes to thyroid neoplasia [tumor formation], I generally tell my patients that Hashimoto’s disease does not predispose to thyroid cancer (aside from the rare lymphoma), but that distinct nodules found on ultrasound have to be evaluated in a conventional manner.”

In the United States, about 4 percent of the population has hypothyroidism, and another 13 million have the condition but have not been diagnosed. Many of these people have Hashimoto’s as well, but may not be aware of it yet because conventional lab tests to diagnose the disease can be misleading, labeling thyroid hormones as within the normal range when a problem still exists.

If your health care practitioner is not experienced with the complexities of thyroid conditions, there is an even higher likelihood that the diagnosis could be missed entirely, especially considering that the symptoms often mimic those of other diseases.

Further, many health care practitioners will advise not treating Hashimoto’s disease in its early stages, but this may be a crucial time to stop the disease before it progresses. By working with a knowledgeable health care practitioner who is experienced with thyroid problems, you can often stop Hashimoto’s disease and its associated low-thyroid symptoms before serious or permanent damage occurs.

Clinical Thyroidology April 2011, Volume 23, Issue 4

Thyroid January 2011; 21(1):37-41.

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The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado is passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.

Hashimoto’s Increases Your Risk of Other Autoimmune Disorders

Many are not aware that the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the United States is actually an autoimmune disease called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Hyperthyroidism is also usually associated with Graves’ disease, another autoimmune disorder.

What is also not widely known is that if you suffer from one autoimmune disease, it increases your risk of developing another. So if you currently have Hashimoto’s disease or Graves’ disease, you’re at risk of developing other autoimmune problems including:

• Multiple sclerosis
• Type 1 diabetes
• Addison’s disease (adrenal insufficiency)
• Vitiligo (loss of pigment of some areas of the skin)
• Lupus
• Celiac disease
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Rheumatoid arthritis

According to one study in The American Journal of Medicine, about 14% of people with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and 10% of patients with Graves’ disease had another autoimmune disorder.

The American Journal of Medicine February 2010; 123(2):183.e1-9.

Clinical Thyroidology for Patients April 2010, Volume 3, Issue 4

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Dr. Brandon Credeur, D.C. and Dr. Heather Credeur, D.C. of The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado are passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Causes Symptoms Unrelated to Hypothyroidism

Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune disease that causes your immune system to mistakenly attack, and destroy, your thyroid, is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the United States.

Hashimoto’s, also known as chronic thyroiditis, causes chronic inflammation of your thyroid, which will eventually impair its ability to produce hormones, triggering hypothyroidism or subclinical hypothyroidism. It has long been thought that the extensive list of symptoms and diseases associated with Hashimoto’s was directly caused by the resulting hypothyroidism, but now a new study has revealed that hypothyroidism may be only a contributing factor to the development of certain associated conditions.

In other words, Hashimoto’s appears to cause a range of symptoms and diseases that are unrelated to hypothyroidism, especially, researchers noted, those related to mood and lower quality-of-life levels for women.

More research is needed to determine exactly how and why Hashimoto’s may lead to changes in mood and behavior independent of hypothyroidism, but in the meantime it helps to be aware of some of the signs and symptoms associated with this relatively common condition.

For instance, with Hashimoto’s your pituitary gland will attempt to stimulate your thyroid to produce more hormones, which may cause it to enlarge (an enlarged thyroid gland is called a goiter).

Along with developing a goiter, you may also notice symptoms common to hypothyroidism, such as:

• Fatigue
• Unexplained weight gain
• Cold intolerance
• Dry skin
• Joint and muscle pain and stiffness

• Muscle weakness
• Constipation
• Thinning hair
• Heavy or prolonged menstrual periods and impaired fertility
• Depression
• Slowed heart rate

Further, when left untreated, Hashimoto’s can lead to serious health complications, including:

• An enlarged heart and, rarely, heart failure
• Increased risk of heart disease
• Depression that becomes increasingly severe over time
• Loss of sexual desire
• Slowed mental functioning
• Birth defects among babies born to women with untreated Hashimoto’s
• Infertility
• Myxedema, a rare, life-threatening condition that leads to lethargy and unconsciousness

It’s also not uncommon with Hashimoto’s for your thyroid to resume proper functioning temporarily, or even become overactive, leading to hyperthyroidism and symptoms like anxiety, insomnia, diarrhea and weight loss.

The symptom load can be heavy with Hashimoto’s, and whether those symptoms are caused by the resulting hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s directly, they can significantly interfere with your quality of life. If you’re experiencing any of the symptoms listed above, we urge you to get help today.

Thyroid February 2011; 21(2):161-7.

Thyroid February 2011; 21(2):161-7. [Full-Length PDF]

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The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado is passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.

New Study Finds Hashimoto’s as Prevalent as Type 2 Diabetes

Hashimoto thyroiditis, the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the United States, is generally thought to impact about 1 percent to 2 percent of women (and a significantly lower percentage of men). However, little is known about the prevalence of actual lab-confirmed cases of the disease.

So researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison set out to determine how many patients would be diagnosed with Hashimoto thyroiditis while being referred for thyroid cancer screening. After reviewing a database of clinical features, ultrasound images and cytology results they revealed some very surprising results, namely that Hashimoto’s disease may be much more common than previously thought.

Writing in the journal Thyroid Research, the researchers noted:

“This is the first study to show such a high prevalence of Hashimoto thyroiditis diagnosed by ultrasound-guided FNA cytology on a somewhat large cohort of patients.

Based on our study, the prevalence of cytology-proven Hashimoto thyroiditis appears to be >10% in patients with thyroid nodules. Given that the prevalence of thyroid nodules on ultrasonography or autopsy data is as high as 50%, such a high prevalence of Hashimoto thyroiditis diagnosed by cytology is noteworthy.

More strikingly, the prevalence of euthyroid [normal thyroid gland function], non-previously diagnosed, cytology-proven Hashimoto thyroiditis (euthyroid autoimmunity), appears to be >5% in our study. This condition has not been previously defined.

For comparison, its prevalence is similar to that of type 2 diabetes, which is considered to be a health care crisis.”

Whereas past studies have estimated the prevalence of Hashimoto’s at 0.55 percent to 0.8 percent, this study found the condition may impact over 13 percent of the population.

Where is the discrepancy coming from?

It’s not completely clear at this point, but researchers suggested it may be because elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), low thyroid hormones and the presence of thyroid autoantibodies are typically used for diagnosis, when in fact the disease may be present (and only able to be diagnosed using cytology) before these clinical markers are met.

What this means is that there may very well be a pre-clinical state for Hashimoto’s during which your immune system has begun to mistakenly attack your thyroid … but typical diagnostic tools would miss it.

Hashimoto’s disease is a slow-progressing condition; it can be years before you develop any noticeable symptoms, or you may easily mistake the early signs for another illness or even “normal” aging.

However, Hashimoto’s disease causes chronic inflammation of your thyroid, which will eventually impair its ability to produce hormones, triggering hypothyroidism or subclinical hypothyroidism.

Many health care practitioners will advise not treating Hashimoto’s disease in its early stages, but this may be a crucial time to stop the disease before it progresses. By working with a knowledgeable health care practitioner who is experienced with thyroid problems, you can often stop Hashimoto’s disease and its associated complications right in its tracks.

Thyroid Research 2010, 3:11

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The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado is passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.