Thursday, December 10, 2009

Pregnant women who suffer from pre-eclampsia are more likely to develop thyroid problems. Researchers from the US and Norway have found that those with the condition have an increased risk of an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism).

As a result, it is recommended that women with pre-eclampsia get a thyroid check in addition to the routine heart and kidney checks. The study was published in the British Medical Journal.

Pre-eclampsia is associated with high blood pressure and can endanger both mother and baby, leading to the death of the baby. Hypothyroidism leads to a slowing of the metabolism which can result in loss of energy, weight gain, depression and other health problems.

Researchers in the US found that elevated levels of a hormone associated with hypothyroidism were twice as common in women who had had pre-eclampsia.

The Norwegian researchers found that women had pre-eclampsia in their first pregnancy were 1.7 times more likely to have signs of an underactive thyroid decades after pregnancy than women who did not have pre-eclampsia. Those who had pre-eclampsia in their first and second pregnancies were six times as likely to have the signs.

The researchers think that pre-eclampsia result in an elevated level of a protein in the mother's blood which limits blood supply to the thyroid, thereby reducing the thyroid's activity.