I have hypothyroidism should i be aware of other medical conditions this could cause.?

Question

I am on medication after having my thyroid radiated, as it was too high, after treatment about 1 month later i was told it was not functioning, was put on medication and i cannot loose weight, i weight 300 pounds am 59 years old and know i must loose weight, i tried nutri systems with no success please advise what i can do as i am worried that i may develop heart problems or diabetis.

Answer 1

My son was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at 17 years old, within weeks of that diagnosis we discovered that he also had stage IV abdominal sarcoma. There may be a connection.

When I did research on his disease I discovered that there is a high rate of cancer associated with hypothyroidism and vice versa . . cancer also may indicate a thyroid problem.

No one knows what triggers cancer, but there may be some connection with hormones. Please read over the following report that discusses a link between the thyroid and sarcoma.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12066223&dopt=Abstract

"We have recently observed that many of our sarcoma patients presented also with thyroid disorders. Literature data are almost unavailable on this topic. The relationship between the sarcoma and thyroid disorders is examined. Retrospective analysis of files of patients with sarcoma and clinically overt thyroid disorders was carried out. Of the 375 patients with soft tissue sarcomas (STS) and 235 with bone sarcoma (BS) including small blue round cell tumors (SBRC), 28 patients (4.6%) had an associated significant thyroid disorder. The types of sarcoma were mainly liposarcoma followed by malignant fibrous histiocytoma, leiomyosarcoma and bone sarcoma. The primary sites were mainly limb and trunk. The interval between the diagnosis of the thyroid disorder and the sarcoma varied between -14 years (thyroid first) and +16.5 years (thyroid later) with a median of -0.2 years. Thyroid disorders included goiter, thyroiditis and carcinoma. There are both basic-science and clinical evidence to a possible common pathway that leads to the association between overt thyroid disorders and sarcomas of bone or soft tissues. Oncogene erbA activity is related to thyroid receptors to T3 and to development of sarcoma. Cross talk of the sarcoma oncogene and the erbA might contribute to the development of sarcoma. The thyroid hormone receptor and the highly related viral oncoprotein v-erbA are found exclusively in the nucleus as stable constituents of chromatin. It has been shown that v-erbA can block the spontaneous differentiation in erythroid cells transformed by various retroviral oncogenes. V-erbA can alter the spectrum of neoplasia induced by the v-src oncogene, which causes predominantly sarcomas and erythroblastosis in chicks. The erbA can cooperate with other oncogenes such as v-erbB or with v-fms, v-ras, and c-kit. Cooperation with v-myc may play a role in the development of rhabdomyosarcoma especially in thyroid hormone deficiency state. The possible clinical implications are the need to screen patients with sarcoma to thyroid disorders, and patients with thyroid disorders for malignant diseases.""

Good luck.

Answer 2

You may be undertreated but the article at http://thyroid.about.com/cs/dietweightloss/a/losingweight.htm, the opening para given below may explain it better.


Many hypothyroid patients struggle with an inability to lose weight. At first, if you'd gained weight before your thyroid problem is diagnosed, you were probably told you'd be able to lose it more easily -- or perhaps you were even told you'd lose all the extra weight -- once you started on your thyroid hormone replacement.

So you take your thyroid hormone, and the weight doesn't come off.

Later, despite "normal" TSH levels, and lower-calorie, low-fat diets and exercise, you find yourself still gaining, or not losing weight. You may also have high cholesterol levels. The doctor then tells you that your weight problem doesn't have anything to do with your thyroid.

Some of this site's visitors have reported to me that they were on a 900-calorie a day diet, walking 3 miles a day, and not losing weight, and the doctor says, "well, you just must be eating too much."

What thyroid patients need to know more about are three factors that are likely at work for many of us with a difficulty losing weight -- a changed metabolic "set point," changes in brain chemistry due to illness and stress, and insulin resistance.

Answer 3

I know that one of the biggest diseases that can be attributed to hypothyroidism is Congestive Heart Failure. Make sure that your thyroid levels are well managed and maintained. Daily exercise no matter what you do will be a big benefit to your heart. Regardless of whether you lose the weight or not.

Answer 4

I'm not sure that hypothyroidism would contribute to heart problems or diabetes, but weight definately could. Maybe you need a higher dose of medicine if you are gaining weight. If you are fatigued, have cold intolerance, dry hair and skin and weight gain, you might want to have your levels checked, they may need to adjust your dosage. Good luck to you.