Why Untreated Hypothyroidism Could Be Harmful To Your Heart
Could you be setting yourself up for heart disease by not treating hypothyroidism?
Are you one of the 13 million Americans suffering from undiagnosed and therefore, untreated hypothyroidism? For some of you, you’ve been tested for hypothyroidism only to come up without a diagnosis despite having all of the symptoms of low thyroid.
Or maybe you have a few pesky symptoms of hypothyroidism such as cold intolerance, dry skin, low body temperature, or brain fog and you figure you’ll just live with them. You’re a tough person, you can deal.
Whatever the case may be, you’re not only dealing unnecessarily with debilitating symptoms of hypothyroidism, you may be doing your heart a huge disservice.
If heart disease runs in your family, consider another factor that is being passed down through the family tree: hypothyroidism. I know what you’re thinking: no one ever mentions that heart disease and hypothyroidism are related. If this is new information to you, be sure to check our blog this week as we narrow in on an often ignored relationship that could be putting your heart at risk.
So, could this be you? Is your heart at risk from untreated hypothyroidism? As always, the first place to begin is with your symptoms. The classic symptoms of hypothyroidism are as follows:
· Loss of energy (malaise/fatigue)
· Difficulty losing weight
· Weight gain
· Fluid retention
· Enlarged tongue with teeth indentations
· Cold extremities and cold sensitivity
· Cold intolerance
· Difficulty concentrating and short term memory loss
· Decreased mental sharpness, “brain fog”
· Hair loss
· Loss of hair on the outer edge of the eyebrows
· Dry skin
· Skin pallor, pastiness and puffiness
· Brittle fingernails with ridging
· Low blood pressure
· Low basal body temperature
· Slow pulse rate
· Elevated cholesterol and triglycerides
· Depression or mood swings
· Hoarseness
· Constipation
· Muscle pain and cramps
· Joint pain
· Tiredness after a full night’s sleep
· Recurrent and chronic infections
· Menstrual irregularities
· Headaches
· Decreased sweating
· Enlarged thyroid gland
· Infertility
· Loss of libido
· Allergic disorders
· Slow speech
· Tingling and/or numbness in extremities
If you’re living with several of these symptoms of hypothyroidism, not only is your quality of life poor, but you could be unnecessarily endangering your heart as well. Take our symptom checker thyroid quiz for women and men to learn if you could have hypothyroidism.
