Hashimoto Thyroiditis and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Risk Factors Involved in the Association of these Pathologies

Abstract

This is a retrospective study that has had the objective to establish if there are any risk factors for developing Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) in a type 2 diabetes (T2DM) population and also to determine if the prevalence of HT is higher in the population of T2DM, comparing with the European population. In the beginning, 5064 patients were evaluated and after that three groups were analysed, one of patients having only type 2 diabetes, one having only Hashimoto thyroiditis and one in which the patients had both of this diseases; each group had 50 patients in it. All patients were analysed using the same clinical and biological parameters. Results showed an increased prevalence of Hashimoto thyroiditis among the type 2 diabetes population, three times higher than in the European population (789.89/105 per year versus 259.12/105 per year). The second part of the study established that female gender, insulin resistance, overweight, high value of glycaemia, hepatic steatosis, cardiac ischemic disease, hypothyroidism, smoking and alcohol intake are risk factors for the onset of HT in T2DM population.