The relationship between stress and hyperthyroidism is very significant, we often forget the impact that chronic stress conditions can have on our health.
Cortisol, a hormone associated with hyperactivity disorder, ends up not only altering thyroid gland function to the point of accelerating it, but also affects our adrenal glands.
Thyroid disorders are known to be very common and related to several factors.
Thus, autoimmune diseases such as Graves’ disease, pregnancy, changes in the pituitary gland and an excess or deficit of iodine can lead us to develop hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism.
On the other hand, we are not always aware of how our emotions can alter, for example, our metabolism; for example, studies such as that published in the electronic journal Thyroid Research indicate that cortisol levels are related to TSH (thyroid hormone or thyroestimulin).
That is, stress is a risk factor for hyperthyroidism, it is perceived how situations of constant pressure, anxiety and anxiety, for months or years, end up affecting thyroid function, accelerating it.
Every day new diagnoses appear related to a change in the thyroid gland, it should not be forgotten that thyroid hormones perform many functions and that their relevance is essential to maintain the good condition of the tissues of the body and perform metabolic tasks, among them, for example, the synthesis of many proteins.
This is why patients with hyperthyroidism usually have a wide range of symptoms, a wide variety of changes, discomfort and associated conditions, which can be summarized as follows:
In addition, it must be said that thyroid-related diseases are more common in women, however, when you listen to the diagnosis, you don’t always stop to understand their origin.
What interests us is treatment, but we also need a therapeutic strategy to improve quality of life, knowing that there is a direct relationship between stress and hyperthyroidism, we need to know how this happens and how it influences our body.
In 2012, Dutch universities funded a comprehensive and in-depth study to verify the relationship between stress and hyperthyroidism.
The results of this research were published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology and were quite significant. They found, for example, that in high and chronic stress and anxiety situations, cortisol has a major influence on the thyroid gland.
Hyperthyroidism (caused or not caused by stress) will be the subject of specific treatment: drugs such as propiltiouracil and metimazole, however, each patient will present a particular situation and certain needs that doctors will evaluate to suggest an appropriate response.
In addition to treatment, what interests us, in the first place, is to be able to prevent these consequences, it is clear that the trigger will not always be stress (especially in the case of autoimmune diseases).
However, given certain psychological conditions that cause metabolic changes, it is necessary to know how to handle these situations, here are some of the causes:
Finally, knowing that stress and hyperthyroidism have this strong relationship, let’s be more aware that taking care of our emotions is also investing in health.