How do thyroid problems affect people with diabetes?
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in your neck that makes hormones essential for many bodily functions, including metabolism, heart rate, and body temperature. When the thyroid produces too much hormone, it’s called hyperthyroidism, and when it makes too little, it’s called hypothyroidism.
People with diabetes, especially type 1, are more likely to develop thyroid problems. This is because having one autoimmune disease, like type 1 diabetes, increases the chance of developing another. The rates can be as high as 30% for those with type 1 diabetes.
Symptoms and Effects on Blood Sugar
Thyroid issues can be hard to spot because their symptoms overlap with many other conditions. For example, hyperthyroidism can cause a fast heart rate, feeling hot, weight loss, and a tremor. Hypothyroidism can cause the opposite effects, such as low energy, constipation, some weight gain, and feeling cold all the time. If you notice these symptoms, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor about checking your thyroid levels with a simple blood test.
Thyroid problems can also make managing diabetes more difficult. An overactive thyroid often leads to higher blood sugar because it makes the body more resistant to insulin and stimulates the liver to produce more glucose. This can mean you’ll need higher doses of diabetes medication. With an underactive thyroid, the link is less clear, but it can also affect blood sugar control.
Treatment Options
Both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism are very treatable. For an overactive thyroid, treatments may include pills that block hormone production, radioactive iodine, or surgery. Radioactive iodine works by slowly killing off some thyroid tissue to reduce hormone production. For an underactive thyroid, treatment involves taking a daily pill to replace the missing hormone. This is usually a lifelong treatment, but once the correct dose is found, blood tests are only needed about once or twice a year.
Since there’s a strong connection between the two conditions, it’s important for people with diabetes to get their thyroid levels checked, especially if they have new symptoms.
About the author
Tala Abu-Hijleh
Dr. Tala Abu-Hijleh is an academic endocrinologist with a focus on managing thyroid disorders and thyroid cancer. She now has her clinical practice at St Joseph Healthcare Hamilton, and appointment as Assistant Professor of Medicine at McMaster University.