Thyroid dysfunction in diabetes mellitus

Objective: to determine the prevalence of thyroid disease in diabetics and its relationship to diabetic complications. study design: descriptive study. material and method: 100 patients of either gender or ages more than 12 years suffering from diabetes mellitus (dm) were enrolled for the study. all diabetics were subjected to tests for thyroid functions including t3,t4 and tsh. a careful history and examination was done to find out symptoms and signs suggesting complications of dm and thyroid dysfunction. further investigations done were complete blood picture,blood sugar level (fasting and 2 hours postprandial),hba1c,urine analysis,chest x-ray,ecg,serum creatinine,blood urea,liver function tests and fasting lipid profile. echocardiography,doppler studies for peripheral vascular disease,urinary ketones,arterial blood gas analysis and serum electrolytes were performed where indicated. data was analyzed using spss 17 and the results were described in terms of descriptive statistics. frequency and percentage were calculated and standard deviation was estimated. significance was kept at p value <0.05. results: this study included 100 diabetic patients. 51% were males and 49% females. age ranged between 15 to 71 years (mean 56 years). 13% were suffering from type1 dm and 87% from type 2 dm. 14% suffered from thyroid dysfunction. out of these,5 were having subclinical hypothyroidism,4 hypothyroidism,3 hyperthyroidism and 2 subclinical hyperthyroidism. the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in patients with diabetic complications was: 14.3% of all with ischemic heart disease,13% with peripheral vascular disease,12.8% with neuropathy,12.7% with nephropathy,16% with retinopathy,9% with hypoglycemia,33.3% with diabetic ketoacidosis and 33.3% with diabetic foot.