How does Thyroid Disease Affect Your Fertility?
huangyan Sep 06, 2022
Thyroid disease refers to a group of disorders that cause thyroid gland dysfunction, resulting in either overproduction or underproduction of thyroid hormones.
When the thyroid gland produces less thyroid hormone than it should, it causes the metabolism to slow down and lead to several symptoms. This is otherwise known as hypothyroidism, which is found in 2 - 4% of women in the U.S. It can be detected with a simple blood test of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH).
Hypothyroidism may not cause noticeable symptoms in the early stage. However, as time goes on, untreated hormone imbalances can cause a variety of health problems. Some common symptoms include irregular menstruation, lack of energy, fatigue, muscle soreness, weight gain and intolerance to cold, thinning hair, and pale skin.
It can also make it more difficult to conceive as this thyroid disorder disrupts the menstrual cycle, and leads to a higher risk of miscarriage or premature birth. Unfortunately, many women never realize that they have this disease, especially women with ill-defined, subclinical hypothyroidism.
In contrast, when patients have high levels of thyroid hormones due to overproduction of thyroid hormone, it is called hyperthyroidism, which affects up to 5% of women. They can have symptoms such as unintentional weight loss, increased appetite, feelings of anxiety, fast heart rate, difficulty sleeping, excessive sweating, neck tenderness, and tremors.
Hyperthyroidism can also lead to Grave’s ophthalmopathy which affects the patient’s eyes. In these patients, their eyes will often be protruded. Other associated symptoms include dry and red eyes and excessive tearing.
When it comes to getting pregnant, hyperthyroidism can cause problems with sperm volume, density, motility, and morphology, which is an obstacle to achieving fertility with an egg. With hyperthyroidism, triiodothyronine T3 and thyroxine T4 both are prevented from playing a key role in the development of testes.
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