RESUMO
Background: Hypothyroidism was found to be associated with metabolic syndrome, with females being more at risk than males. The potential contributory role of the metabolic syndrome to cardiovascular risk and its scope in subjects with hypothyroidism is the focus of this study.Methods: Forty untreated hypothyroid women and forty normal, healthy subjects were recruited for the study. Fasting blood samples were collected for lipid profile, glucose and insulin level estimation.Results: Systolic and diastolic blood pressures in hypothyroidism patients were significantly higher than values in controls. Similarly, BMI, waist circumference was higher among hypothyroidism subjects. Again, fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL-cholesterol levels were higher in patients with hypothyroidism in comparison to controls, while HDL- cholesterol, insulin, HOMA-IR were higher among controls. Conclusion: Hypothyroidism is significantly associated with metabolic syndrome and its components like dysglycemia, hypertension and dyslipidemia and obesity. Increased cardiovascular and other risk factor among hypothyroidism patients need to be addressed by further studies.