PREVALENCE OF THYROID DYSFUNCTION IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

Anjalika Goyal* and Piyush Verma

ABSTRACT

Schizophrenia is a complex and pathological brain developmental disorder with multiple neurotransmitters abnormalities. The most commonly affected neurotransmitters are dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, and GABA. Thyroid hormone plays important role in brain development and also modulates all these neurotransmitters. Association between mental state and thyroid function has been long recognized since the earliest description of myxedema and thyrotoxicosis. But its role in psychotic disorder is often ignored and rarely assessed. This study was planned to study prevalence and type of thyroid dysfunction in schizophrenia. A present study is conducted on 100 patients newly diagnosed with schizophrenia using ICD-10 criteria from department of psychiatry. Serum Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), T3 (triiodothyroxine) and T4 (L-thyroxine) levels were estimated by radioimmunoassay technique. The data were analyzed using Chi-square (χ2) test. Out of 100 patients 27 patients were found to have abnormal thyroid function test, from which 4 were hyperthyroidism and 23 were hypothyroidism. These finding suggests there is high prevalence of thyroid abnormality in patients suffering from schizophrenia. So patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders should be screened for abnormal thyroid hormonal status.

Keywords: Schizophrenia, Thyroid Dysfunction, Hypothyroidism, and Hyperthyroidism.