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Kwon, Kim, Cho, Park, and Sung: The Association between Subclinical Hypothyroidism and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Post-menopausal Women
Original Article
The Journal of Korean Society of Menopause

The Journal of Korean Society of Menopause 2012; 18(3): 193-198.

Published online: 31 December 2012

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6118/jksm.2012.18.3.193

The Association between Subclinical Hypothyroidism and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Post-menopausal Women

Oh Sung Kwon, M.D.1, Jin Hee Kim, M.D.1, Soo Hyun Cho, M.D., Ph.D.1, Hyoung Moo Park, M.D., Ph.D.2, Eun Ju Sung, M.D., Ph.D.3

1Department of Family Medicine, Chung-Ang University Hospital, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chung-Ang University Hospital, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

3Department of Family Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Address for Correspondence: Hyoung Moo Park, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, 101 Heukseok-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 156-755, Korea. Tel: +82-2-6299-1891, Fax: +82-2-6298-8351, hmpark@hananet.net, Soo Hyun Cho, Department of Family Medicine, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, 101 Heukseok-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 156-755, Korea. Tel: +82-2-6299-1891, Fax: +82-2-6298-8351, soohu@hanmail.net

Received 26 April 2012       Revised 23 May 2012       Accepted 7 June 2012

Copyright © 2012 by The Korean Society of Menopause

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).

Abstract

Objectives

The relationship between subclinical hypothyroidism and cardiovascular disease has not yet been clearly defined. This study will investigate whether or not there is a difference in the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism in menopausal women with respect to cardiovascular risk factors, and will furthermore analyze the relationship between cardiovascular diseases and subclinical hypothyroidism, in order to establish a foundation for subclinical hypothyroidism research.

Methods

The study subjects consisted of 713 post-menopausal women, who visited the hospital for a health check-up in 2006-2010. They were divided into a subclinical hypothyroidism group and a normal group. This study analyzed the difference in blood pressure, serum lipid, body mass index (BMI) and blood glucose level between the two groups. The data was analyzed using a two-sample t-test.

Results

The prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism for menopausal women was 6.7%. The results showed no significant differences between the normal and subclinical hypothyroidism patient groups, in regards to blood pressure, BMI, and blood glucose levels (P > 0.05). However the triglyceride of serum lipid was significantly higher in the subclinical hypothyroidism group (P = 0.003).

Conclusion

It has been confirmed that the triglyceride of the subclinical hypothyroidism group was higher than that of the normal group, and so serum lipid maintenance and caution towards cardiovascular disease is necessary for the subclinical hypothyroidism group.

Keywords: Cardiovascular diseases, Hypothyroidism, Middle aged, Postmenopause, Triglycerides

Figures and Tables

Table 1
Prevalence of thyroid disease of the subjects
jksm-18-193-i001
Table 2
Comparison of baseline characteristics, thyroid hormone level and cardiovascular disease risk factors, between the normal group and the subclinical hypothyroidism group
jksm-18-193-i002

By independent t-test; Values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation.

TSH: thyroid stimulating hormone, FT4: free thyroxine, T3: triiodothyronine, SBP: systolic blood pressure, DBP: diastolic blood pressure, BMI: body mass index, HDL: high-density lipoprotein, LDL: low-density lipoprotein

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