ABSTRACT
Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), Free Thyroxine (FT(4)) and Free Triiodothyronine (FT(3)) were assayed in 505 women of this region. 60 women had previous history of thyroid disease. The remaining 445 women formed the "Disease free group". A "Reference group" was obtained by excluding women with previous and present history of thyroid dysfunction. Of the total 505 women examined 15.8% had thyroid dysfunction and 84.2% were euthyroid. 11.5% were hypothyroid (9.5% sub-clinical) and 1.8% hyperthyroid (1.2% clinical). The geometric mean TSH for the total population was 2.65 µIU/ml. It was significantly (p=0.025) lower in the reference population 2.17 µIU/ml. There was no significant difference in the FT(3) and FT(4) values between groups. 19% of women over 60 years had elevated TSH above 4.5 µIU/ml. The 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles of the reference population was 1.1-5.2 µIU/ml. 6.1% of women in the reference group had TSH levels above the reference intervals. Hypothyroidism particularly sub-clinical hypothyroidism is predominantly present amongst women in this iodine sufficient region. Evaluation of thyroid status could help in early detection and treatment.
ABSTRACT
Elevated plasma Homocysteine level is an independent risk factor for age related (senile) cataract. Certain nutritional deficiencies, in particular Folate, Vitamin B(12), Vitamin B(6) relate inversely with Homocysteine level. This study was undertaken to evaluate the plasma level of Vitamin B(12), Folate, and Homocysteine of cataract patients and to study the interplay between them. Serum Homocysteine level is significantly increased in cataract patients when compared with control (p< 0.001). There was a significant decrease in the level of Folate as compared with control (p<0.001). There was a negative correlation between Homocysteine vs. Vitamin B(12) (p<0.01) and Folate (p<0.01) in the Cataract patients. Our findings suggest that increased plasma Homocysteine level is associated with decreased plasma levels of Folate and VitaminB(12) in Cataract patients, which might have a possible role in the root cause of cataract pathogenesis.
