Abstract

Introduction: The effect on thyroid hormones on electrolytes and minerals has not been well established and the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Only few data on the association between thyroid function and electrolyte disorders exists. Thus our aim was to assess the levels of serum electrolytes and minerals in the patients with thyroid disorders.
Materials and methods:   75 patients and 30 controls were included. Thyroid hormones (T3, T4, TSH) were measured by vidas autoanalyser. Serum calcium, phosphorous and magnesium were estimated by kit based method using semiautoanalyser. Serum sodium, potassium and chlorides were estimated using ion selective electrodes. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 16.
Results: Patients with subclinical hypothyroidism and overt hypothyroidism showed significant decrease in serum calcium and sodium levels and significant increase in serum phosphorous, magnesium, potassium and chloride levels (p 0.05). In case of subclinical hyperthyroidism significant difference could not be obtained among controls and patients (p>0.05). However for overt hyperthyroid patients, serum phosphorous was significantly decreased and serum sodium was increased significantly (p 0.05). Rest of the results were non significant. When correlated with TSH, serum calcium and sodium showed negative correlation whereas it was positive for serum phosphorous, magnesium, potassium and chloride in case of hypothyroidism. For hyperthyroid patients, correlation was negative for magnesium and chloride whereas positive for the rest parameters. But none of correlations were statistically significant (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Thyroid patients should be regularly checked for serum electrolytes. Early detection and treatment can prevent the further complications and will be helpful during the management of thyroid patients.