Type 1 Diabetes Increases Risk for Thyroid Disease

Type 1 diabetic patients are at higher risk of developing autoimmune thyroid condition and women are eight times more likely to develop thyroid disease than men….

According to Dr. Betul Hatipoglu, an endocrinologist with the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, the type 1 diabetes patient’s odds to develop either under or overactive thyroid disease is roughly 30 percent. The rate is eight times higher in women than men, regardless of diabetes. The autoimmune diseases tend to run in the family.

 "People who have one autoimmune disease like Type 1 diabetes are at risk for another," said Dr. Lowell Schmeltz, an endocrinologist and assistant professor at the Oakland University-Williams Beaumont School of Medicine in Royal Oak, Michigan. Though the antibodies that destroy the pancreas cells in type 1 diabetes are different than ones in autoimmune thyroid disease, there are genetic risks that link these autoimmune conditions.

Generally, people develop type 1 diabetes at a young age then develop thyroid disease later. However, the number of people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at older age is increasing so it might be possible that people will develop thyroid disease first.

Untreated thyroid disease can cause difficulty in controlling blood glucose. So, if a type 1 diabetic patient has trouble keeping blood sugar under control, it could be underlying thyroid disease. The key point is autoimmune thyroid disease can be episodic in the beginning so it is very important that type 1 diabetic patients check thyroid function regularly.

People with type 1 diabetes are also more prone to other autoimmune diseases such as celiac disease.

The Endocrine Society, March 2013