You know how important a person's heart is, so it's no wonder people worry when they hear someone has heart problems. Heart disease and stroke kill about 17 million people a year, which is almost one-third of all deaths globally. Millions of the survivors are disabled and cannot lead productive lives . Decades of research show that hypothyroidism is one of the main causes of heart related illnesses including heart attack and stroke. Even small changes in levels of thyroid hormone may be associated with measurable changes in how well the heart functions. Often hypothyroidism is subclinical (normal to low blood levels of thyroid hormone but having thyroid related symptoms). Unfortunately, the symptoms associated to the disease are also common and vague and frequently are not associated as hypothyroid symptoms by the physician.

If you are experiencing any of the symptoms from table 1 you need to check your thyroid function.

If you ever been told you have high cholesterol, sugar, blood pressure, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), fluid retention (the need for diuretics), or anyone in your family has history of heart attack it is critical to determine whether hypothyroidism is an underlying factor.

Fortunately, hypothyroidism is now easily diagnosed, and treatment will restore normal thyroid function and reduce your heart risk. NiTek has recently released Thyroflex the machine that accurately identifies thyroid dysfunction. It is an inexpensive and easy to perform 4 minute test. The results are instant and give the treating doctor a tool to help make treatment decisions that will be of great health benefit to you.

There's no question that you need to prevent heart problems before they start. At your next appointment, make sure to ask your doctor how you can check your thyroid to see if it is contributing to heart risk.

December 2006 Tamar Tchelidze, MD, MPH