Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common endocrine metabolic disorder and is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Thyroid disorders are also very common in the general population and are second only to diabetes as the most common condition to affect the endocrine system. As a result, it is common for an individual to be affected by both thyroid diseases and diabetes.
Objective: To compare the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in type 2 diabetic patients and healthy controls.
Materials and Methods: This study comprises 200 subjects including 100 type 2 diabetic patients and 100 controls, in whom serum-fasting glucose, serum triiodothyronine (T ), thyroxine (T ), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were 3 4 measured. Result: Among the 100 type 2 diabetic patients studied, 32% of the patients had abnormal thyroid hormone levels and 68% had normal thyroid hormone levels. Among the 32% of diabetic patients with abnormal thyroid hormone levels, 22% of them had hypothyroidism (8% clinical hypothyroidism and 14% subclinical hypothyroidism) and 10% had hyperthyroid- ism (4% clinical hyperthyroidism and 6% subclinical hyperthyroidism). All the controls were found to have normal thyroid hormone levels. Conclusion: There is high prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in type 2 diabetic patients as compared to healthy controls. Hypothyroidism was found more common than hyperthyroidism. Therefore, detection of abnormal thyroid hormone levels in the early stage of DM may help patients improve the quality of life and reduce the morbidity rate.