Variable Thyroid Levels – Watch Out for Alzheimer's

A study has clearly suggested that women having variable levels of the thyrotropin, a hormone which impinges on the thyroid gland function and thyroid hormone levels, could be more susceptive to developing Alzheimer's disease.

The research has clearly indicated that faulty functioning of the thyroid is a sure cause for cognitive malfunction. Having an under active or over active thyroid definitely affects the processes of thinking, learning and memory.

The study author, Dr. Zaldy Tan of Hebrew Senior Life, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues measured thyrotropin levels in 1,864 healthy individuals with an average age of 71, without cognitive problems, between 1977 and 1979.

All the participants were a part of the community-based Framingham Health Study, Massachusetts. They were assessed for memory loss symptoms repeatedly after every two years.

After careful scrutiny for 12.7 years, 209 of the volunteers developed Alzheimer's disease. This result was printed in the most recent issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, which is one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

After fine-tuning the other correlated aspects, women with the lowest (less than 1 milli-international unit per litre) and highest (more than 2.1 milli-international units per litre) rating of thyrotropin were found to have a twofold risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. No such relationship was seen in men.

The neuropath logical mechanism of whether Alzheimer's affects thyroid function or the vice versa is still not comprehensible.

Tan’s team also pointed out that changes in the brain caused by Alzheimer's disease could trim down the amount of thyrotrophic released which could damage the brain cells and blood vessels. This could lead to further cognitive troubles.

The study authors concluded that these findings should only be considered as a launching pad for a bigger study on the subject over a larger subset of individuals, before drawing any quantifiable inferences.