Action Points
- Over one-3rd of pregnant women had iron deficiencies in their initial trimester, which were most likely to be associated along with increased risk of thyroid-related conditions.
- Note that the study does not straight prove causation and that the next target is to examine pregnancy outcomes in women along with and free of iron deficiency to see whether iron dysfunction, thyroid dysfunction, or the 2 are associated along with altered pregnancy outcomes.
Over one-3rd of pregnant women had iron deficiencies in their initial trimester, which were most likely to be associated along with increased risk of thyroid-related conditions, a small Belgian study found.
In the 2 univariate and multivariable analyses, iron deficiency in pregnancy was linked along with a significantly increased risk of thyroid autoimmunity and dysfunction, reported Flora Veltri, MD, of Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium, and colleagues.
The link was additionally associated along with an increased risk of subclinical hypothyroidism in multivariate analyses, the group wrote in the European Diary of Endocrinology.
Iron deficiency was associated along with a 57% increased risk in thyroid autoimmunity (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.11-2.11) in univariate analyses. Reduced levels of iron were additionally linked along with a 52% greater risk of thyroid autoimmunity (adjusted OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.52-2.15) and a much more compared to twofold increased risk (OR 2.32, 95% CI 1.59-3.40) associated along with subclinical hypothyroidism in a multivariate model.
Another of the co-authors, Kris Poppe, MD, additionally of Université Libre, noted that there was rather little existing literature on the association between iron deficiency and altered thyroid function, even though it was something he has actually noticed routinely in his practice.
“In my day-to-day technique as an endocrinologist, pregnant women are regularly referred by gynecologists for an altered thyroid function, and I regularly notice that the women additionally have actually Reduced iron levels,” he told MedPage Today via email. “Iron deficiency is not something from the past; it remains an real healthiness problem in numerous pregnant women. Therefore a measurement of ferritin ought to be performed ideally before, yet undoubtedly during, the initial trimester of pregnancy.”
Overall, 35% of the women showed an association along with iron deficiency, and overall, a significantly better section of women that were iron deficient additionally had the association along with thyroid autoimmunity (10% versus 6%) and subclinical hypothyroidism (20% versus 16%) compared along with women that were not iron deficient.
In an email to MedPage Today, Scott Sullivan, MD, of Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, characterized the study as “interesting and well-executed,” and agreed that thyroid health problem is an understudied location in women, particularly in pregnancy — yet he said he did not believe the outcomes had the potential to impact clinical practice.
“This pointer must be replicated in One more study, preferably in a various population,” said Sullivan, that was not involved along with the research. “Potentially down the road it could prompt doctors to screen for thyroid function in women along with iron deficiency or anemia, which is not currently done.”
Not surprisingly, iron levels were additionally inversely correlated along with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and were positively correlated along with FT4, a measure of thyroid function. There were no substantial associations along with iron deficiency and age or physique mass index (BMI).
Veltri, Pope, and colleagues performed a cross-sectional analysis of 1,900 women, which was nested in an ongoing prospective study. BMI and age were similar between the groups. Iron deficiency was defined as a ferritin degree much less compared to 15 μg/L, thyroid autoimmunity was defined as being present once the degree of thyroid peroxidase antibodies was over 60 kIU/L, and subclinical hypothyroidism was defined as a TSH degree over 2.5 mIU/L.
Limitations to the study contain the reality that the researchers did not measure hemoglobin, total iron binding capacity, iron saturation index, or familial TSH. Thyroid examinations were not corrected for human chorionic gonadotropin levels at the moment the samples were taken.
Sullivan additionally noted that the study does not straight prove causation — and that ferritin levels could be indicative of something else: “Reduced iron could just be a surrogate for unsatisfactory diet, lack of care, Reduced iodine, or others feasible causative factor,” he said.
Poppe said the next target is to examine pregnancy outcomes in women along with and free of iron deficiency to see whether iron dysfunction, thyroid dysfunction, or the 2 are associated along with an altered pregnancy outcome.
He did, though, go on to emphasize the importance of testing for iron levels throughout pregnancy: “others investigators have actually currently revealed that iron deficiency ought to be corrected throughout pregnancy for several obstetrical reasons, beyond the association along with thyroid problems,” he said.
The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
last updated 07.22.2016
