Iram Saddiqa Aamir
Background: A connection between hypothyroidism and depression has been presumed for many years; however, the ground reality between such association has been difficult to outline with a lot of differing studies. With large cohort studies and in recent years, our understanding about this association has improved, but still the gray area remains much at large in comparison to what is crystal clear to us.
Objectives: Literature was reviewed regarding thyroid function and depression to asses if relationship between these two have been established or not.
Methods: PubMed was used as the database and the terms used to search literature were ‘thyroid, ‘mental health ’and ‘depression’. The key strategy was to review as many recent studies as we can and compare it to the ones which were conducted years ago. Sample size was also considered, and studies with a larger number of subjects were preferred. Results from these studies were compiled at one place and key common factors were looked for, linking hypothyroidism with depression.
Results: Despite large epidemiological studies, concrete relation between thyroid function and depression can’t be established without thyroid dysfunction. The relation of the Hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid function, the chief monoamines and the clinical subtypes of depression is intricate and does not directly establish a straight relationship. Subjects taking thyroxine have subordinate psychological well-being than subjects who are euthyroid. TSH cut of value for hypothyroid patients to be psychologically sound has been established to be 2.5 MIU/L.
Conclusion: After many years of research, still we remain in dark with respect to the relation between thyroid and depressive symptoms and it largely remains unclear. Hence, further studies will be required to build up strong evidence and connection between the two and to also state the pathophysiology behind it.
