Free Thyroid Hormones in Subclinical Hypothyroidism and Its Preponderance in Jammu Region

Hypothyroidism is one of the commonest endocrine disorders. Subclinical hypothyroidism is characterized by increased thyroid stimulating hormone levels and normal free T3 and free T4 levels. It is more common in females than males. Its prevalence varies with pop¬ulation, race, region, age, and sex, the presence of auto antibodies to thyroid hormone and method of TSH estimation. It is interrelated with various disease conditions like cardiovascular diseases, hip fractures, cognitive dysfunctions and pulmonary complications and in women, it is related with dysfunctional uterine bleeding, increased incidence of preeclampsia. The present study was conducted in the Department of Biochemistry with the aim to find out the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism. It was observed that out of 500 patients included in the study, 24.4% have subclinical hypothyroidism which includes 18% females and 6.4% males. Thus, the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism is much more in females. Hence, future studies which include the thyroid antibodies should be done to find the exact reason behind this preponderance of thyroid disorder in women.