Thyroid Test Results May Vary if You’re on a Statin
Sat, March 21, 2009 at 02:00AM An overactive thyroid occurs in as many as 4 million people in the USA. The diagnosis is often made with blood tests that measure the levels of thyroxine and TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) in the blood. High levels of thyroxin and low or nonexistent amounts of TSH indicate an overactive thyroid.
Older people sometimes don’t have the classical symptoms of overactive thyroid (weight loss, rapid heartbeat with palpitations, sweating, tremor, anxiety), so physicians rely on blood tests. But many older persons are taking a statin drug (e.g. Lipitor®, Crestor®, Zocor®), which can actually lead to false results with thyroid tests. A study was published in the medical journal Thyroid describing this.
The Dallas physicians re-examined 307patients whose TSH levels showed overactive thyroids. There were 29 of them who were taking a statin drug, and 278 who were not. Radioactive iodine uptakes and scans were done on all the patients in the collective, to determine more conclusively if they had an overactive thyroid or not.
Sixteen of the 29 patients taking a statin (55%) had normal radioiodine uptakes and scans; the remainder of this group 13 patients) had abnormal radioiodine results, suggesting overactivity. In contrast, the vast majority (84%) of the 278 patients not taking a statin had abnormal scans indicating actual thyroid overactivity. The investigators calculate that statin-taking people with a low or absent TSH had a 3.6 times greater chance of having a normal radioiodine uptake (i.e. a normal thyroid).
As one of the investigators puts it: “This paper . . .suggests that most people on statins for high cholesterol likely do not have any problem with their thyroid – even if they have low TSH test results”. But the physicians leave the door open for an intriguing possibility: maybe the statins improve thyroid function in patients with overactive thyroids. That would be an unexpected effect, but one that would add to the burgeoning list of uses for statins – enter “statin uses” into the search box in the right column to see these.
Reader Comments (8)
Hyperthyroidism has many different symptoms. they relate to a speeding up of your body's metabolism.The opposite condition to hyperthyroidism is hypothyroidism. This happens when the thyroid is underactive and doesn't produce enough thyroid hormones. This slows down the body's metabolism, causing symptoms such as weight gain, tiredness and feeling cold.
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This is caused by elevated cortisol, which is in turn caused by active infection, blood sugar imbalances, chronic stress, pregnancy, hypoglycemia or insulin resistance.
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This happens when the thyroid doesn't produce enough thyroid hormones. This slows down the body's metabolism, causing symptoms such as weight gain, tiredness and feeling cold.
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I am hypothyroid and on Armour. I do take kelp too. I got my thyroid levels correct first and then I did a few iodine patch tests to see if it picked up a deficiency. It showed I was deficient, so I started the kelp. Many people do fine with a little bit of iodine, then there are others that don't. I started out by taking powdered kelp, but the problem with powdered kelp is that there are no dosages. Plus, iodine deficiency is a symptom, not a cause. There are other, more pressing headaches associated with hypothyroidism. Metabolism, for starters, which can play hell with your immune system, and also your mental health. If you look at a nurses' guide, you'll see that thyroid issues can lead to some chemical difficulties in brain/body day-to-day functioning.
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